Little Witch Academia Reimagined
by Bakufan15
Summary: Akko is attending Luna Nova, just like she had dreamed to since she was a little girl. She's going to become a great witch! Except this time, she has a companion that nobody else can see helping her with her quest to fill the Shiny Rod. There are ancient types of magic awakening, and Akko is at the center of it all. Rewrite of the original show, with post season 1 parts to come!
1. Chapter 1

**A New Journey Begins!**

 _Hello everyone! Anyone that has followed me as a writer knows me from my semi-successful undertale fan fics from when that was popular over a year ago, but I have found a new passion, and have decided to come back and write for Little Witch Academia._

 _I pondered for a while on what i would like this story to be, but I finally settled on doing a reimagining of the original series with my own twist on it. I thought to myself "Hey what if Akko went through her entire journey again, but she had a personal companion that nobody but her could see?" The premise with the companion should ring a few bells for anyone that has read the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, my favorite series and author of all time! Also, contrary to seeing Akko's parents in the manga, I am going to do a slightly different thing with the beginning. It will not be very important though, so don't worry about it._

 _Anyways, that's enough crap to get through, lets get to it!_

Atsuko "Akko" Kagari woke to the sound of birds chirping outside her window of her room in the foster home in suburban Tokyo.

 _What a pleasant sound!_ She thought to herself, just laying on her bed for a moment, soaking in the soothing song. Then the realization hit her. Akko sat bolt upright on her bed and looked at the time on the clock on the wall.

"8:37! I overslept! No No NO this is bad. Bad bad bad!" Akko exclaimed, literally jumping out of bed and pulling on clothes as fast as she possibly could.

"What is all of that rukus for Miss Kagari?" an elderly voice called from down the stairs.

"I overslept, Miss Yashi! I needed to be awake an hour ago!" Akko called down, all while stuffing everything she needed into her suitcase. Akko threw her door open and sprinted down the stairs. Grabbing hold of the front door, she started to turn the handle before Miss Yashi stopped her.

"Miss Kagari, before you go, there is something I must give you. Your mother wanted you to have this." Yashi handed Akko a small photo. The photo depicted a young Akko standing with her mother at the night of the Shiny Chariot performance. Suddenly, a mix of emotions welled up inside of Akko. First it was sadness at seeing her late mother, then came excitement at knowing she was finally about to accomplish her dream, and finally it was thankfulness. Thankfulness for all of the people that helped her get to where she was. Akko threw her arms around Miss Yashi.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me since my mother died. Thank you so much!" Akko said, tears in her eyes.

"It is no problem, dear. Now, don't you have a plane to catch?" Miss Yashi said, letting go of Akko.

"I do! Thanks again! For everything!" Akko said, running out the door with her luggage, shoving her picture in her coat pocket.

Akko ended up getting through airport security just in time to catch her plane. Akko plopped down on her seat and put her bag under her seat. It wasn't long before the plane took off. Soon enough, Akko was staring out the window at the sprawling landscape below her. Strangely, something caught her eye. Flying next to the plane was what looked like a streak of white light. Akko paid no heed to the strange appearance, as she was too focused on the fact that her dream was finally about to start.

The plane landed and Akko stepped off the ramp into the terminal. She hauled her bags with her and walked through the airport until she stood outside the building. Only then did she jump into the air and yell, "This is it! The day that I finally become a witch!"

Akko set to work asking around the town where she could find the bus station. Answer after answer was "I don't know" or "There isn't one." Akko sat down on a nearby bench, defeated. She would miss the ceremony at this rate.

"I guess it just wasn't meant to be…" She said solemnly. A flash of white light dashed in front of her vision, bringing a gust of wind with it.

 _That's the same thing I saw flying next to the plane_ Akko thought, following the direction the thing went with her eyes, but something caught her eye. Akko pulled out the directory that was supposedly a map of where the bus stop was. Sure enough, the building on the top of the hill she was looking at looked exactly like what was depicted on the pamphlet. Akko jumped out of her seat, full of newfound energy, and thus began her sprint for the building on the hill.

Fully enamored by the thought of becoming a witch, Akko didn't even realize that there was someone right in her path as she ran for the station. Akko hit the person at full force, knocking both of them over.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry!" Akko quickly apologized and started to pick up the stuff dropped onto the floor, only when she saw another Luna Nova pamphlet did she realize who she just knowcked over.

"You're a new student to Luna Nova too? My name is Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko!" She greeted the witch. The girl stayed silent, and simply took out a bottle of purple liquid and dropped it on Akko's stuffed toy. The thing started to move.

"Animation magic? That's amazing! I tried to…" Akko kept talking, eventually moving to pick up the newly living toy. It just pecked her in the eye.

"Hey that hurt!" Akko said, looking up. The girl she had just met wasn't there anymore. Akko decided to run ahead and see if she could catch up, but the girl just seemed to vanish.

"Way to make new friends…" Akko muttered before continuing her trek to the station.

Just as she was approaching the station, Akko caught the end of a conversation.

"Did you hear that the school is running into financial problems so they've started letting in regular people? Like ones not from witch families? Such a disgrace." One of the girls said. Akko blushed and quickly turned her back to the other girls standing at the station.

"Hey are you new here? I've never seen you before." one of the girls said to Akko. Akko turned around.

"Y-Yeah I am. Sure hope the bus comes soon right?" Akko said nervously.

"Bus? You must be the one not from a witch family. This is a Ley Line. It's like the magical highway!" the girls all three laughed at Akko and mounted their brooms.

"Tia Freyre!" they girls said, and sped on their brooms out into the building, where they floated to what looked like a big green portal.

"Good luck getting there! I heard if you're late then you're banned from EVER attending!" one of the girls said as they vanished from sight.

Akko attempted to climb the vines to get into the portal, but to no avail. She just sat down and laid down on the hard concrete, defeated once again.

"Hello?" a voice said to Akko's right. She looked over to find a short person dressed in witch clothing.

"Is there something wrong?" The girl said.

"I'm not from a witch family," Akko said, "I Don't have a broom. At this rate, ill miss the ceremony and my dream of becoming a witch will never come true…" Akko said sadly. The girl looked down at Akko. Then she streched her hand out to Akko.

"My name is Lotte. Nice to meet you. I'll give you a ride!" Lotte said, hauling Akko to her feet.

"My name is Akko! Thank you so much!" The two girls loaded their things onto Lotte's broom and set off towards the ley line.

Not long into the trip, Akko decided to make small talk.

"So why did you decide to come to Luna Nova?" Akko asked.

"Everyone in my family has been witches for generations. I need to get my magical item handling license as well. How about you?" Lotte asked.

"Well, I saw a Shiny Chariot show when I was young, and ever since then it has been my dream to become a witch and put a smile on everyone's face, just like Chariot did! I even have most of the collectable cards to boot." Akko explained. She pulled the premium Chariot card out of her pocket and showed it to Lotte.

"This card is my-" Akko faltered, remembering the photo she had in her pocket, "One of my most prized possessions." The second part was slightly more solemn than the first part.

"What's your most prized possession then?" Lotte asked.

"I-It's this." She pulled the photo of her and her mom out of her pocket. "This is a photo of my mom and I at the Chariot -This was one of the last things she did with me before…" Akko trialied off, afraid to continue for fear of crying.

"Oh...I didn't realize. I'm sorry." Lotte said. Suddenly, a gust of wind came out of nowhere, snatching Akko's photo out of her hand.

"NO!" Akko yelled, standing and literally jumping off the broom after the picture. She caught it in midair, but the force of her jump caused Lotte to lose control and fall off her broom. They both started to fall into the abyss. Akko hit something hard as she fell, and turned midair to see that the girl with the potion from earlier was now falling with her as well as Lotte. They screamed as they fell.

Akko came to hanging from her coat in some forest. Below her was Lotte cradling something as well as the mystery girl standing off to the side. Akko started to move, and the branch she was hanging from snapped, dropping her to the ground next to Lotte.

"I'm so sorry! I messed everything up. As usual." Akko said sadly.

"No it's okay. We just need to find our way out of here before the ceremony!" Lotte said, "And my broom broke."

"The forest of Arcturus." The mystery girl said. "That's where we are. This is perfect."

"Umm the forest of what now?" Akko asked.

"The forest of arcturus. It's full of magic, so if we could open a layline somehow then we could get out of here." Lotte said. Meanwhile, the mystery girl had set up a ring of rope.

"Stand here." She said. Akko and Lotte stood in the circle, and it suddenly turned into a netting ball.

"Will this help us get back in time?" Akko said. There was no comment from the mystery girl, she just got on her broom and shouted a spell into the forest. The ground started to thud as something REALLY big started to approach.

"Now will you kindly distract this thing while I take one of its feathers? Oh you've already volunteered? Great!" The girl said as a massive chicken with a serpent tail appeared from the forest.

"Oh and if you don't want to become stone, don't let it breathe on you." The girl said. Akko and Lotte screamed and started to run as fast as they could, barely keeping speed to outrun the beast. They ran through a forest until they came on a hill. They couldn't control their speed and hit a tree, shattering the semi-protective ball. And tumbled down the hill. Just before the hill dropped into a cliff, Akko grabbed a stump as well as Lotte's hand.

"I've got you!" Akko said, hauling Lotte and herself to their feet. The bird seemed to have gotten distracted by the mystery girl. Suddenly Lotte tripped and stumbled.

"My leg! I think there's something wrong with it, just leave me and go!" Lotte said.

"I will never do that." Akko said, letting Lotte lean on her for support as they made their way back up the hill.

"No matter what! I will become a witch!" Akko said. There was some well of power blooming inside her, giving her the resolve to keep going.

"Nothing will stand in my way!" A white ribbon of light, the one from before, started to dash in circles around Akko.

"I will follow my dream no matter what!" The ribbon of light flew into the ground in front of Akko, and vines sprouted from the ground materializing into something. Akko remembered what she had heard from Chariot, all those years ago.

"I will aim unto the truest target!" Akko yelled. The vines materialized into a piece of wood with 7 gemstones set into the wood. The shiny rod.

Amazed, Akko reached forward and grabbed the mythical wand.

"Is that…?" Lotte said.

"It is. The Shiny Wand. Shiny Chariot's Wand." Akko said amazed. Something came out of the forest and stopped next to Akko and Lotte.

"I got what I needed. Let's go." The mystery girl said from on her broom. Akko and Lotte jumped on the broom, and took off into the sky. Behind them, the giant Chicken monster broke the treeline and followed the girls through the air, gaining on them quickly.

"This is bad. We would be able to outrun this with 3 people." The mystery girl said.

"Who even are you?" Akko asked

"The name is Sucy" Sucy said. The massive bird suddenly let loose a jet of fire

"Well, SUCY, you didn't tell us that this beast could BREATHE FIRE!" Akko yelled.

"I didn't know that!" Sucy replied. The giant chicken monster was gaining on them, and soon it was close enough that its fire breath lit the back of Sucy's broom on fire. A gust of wind knocked them all off their broom.

"AHHHHH" All the girls screamed as they fell. Akko held the shiny rod near to her chest as she fell towards the trees, and suddenly, it started to glow with a green light.

 _The Words. Say the Words_ a woman-like voice said in Akko's mind, and she remembered what Chariot said all those years ago.

"Noctu orfei" Akko whispered into the wind. The Shiny rod glowed slightly brighter.

"Aude" She continued, reciting Chariot's spell,

"FRAETOR" Akko finished. The Shiny Rod flashed with one of the stars turning orange, and the rod _transformed_ into a bow in Akko's hand. She took the drawstring and pulled it back, and a green and gold arrow materialized in her hand.

"SHINY ARC!" Akko yelled, letting the drawstring loose. The arrow streaked towards the treeline, and a massive green leyline portal appeared in front of them. The girls plunged into the portal and fell through the green abyss, until the gold symbol of luna nova appeared in front of them. They aimed themselves through it and the main hall of the school materialized around them. Akko looked around in shock as the glow faded from the Shiny Rod. Then she jumped up

"We made it in time! Yeah!" She yelled ecstatically. Akko's new journey had officially begun!

 _So, A quick note. Obviously Ursula was there during the whole forest ordeal just like in the show, but I couldn't figure out how to write her in. just know she still knows what happened. Also, There will be much more ORIGINAL content in the future, as the only reason this chapter was so close to the first episode is that i needed to set the stage. Anyways, see you in the next one!_


	2. Chapter 2

**First Day at Luna Nova**

 _I just want to say thank you to those of you who have decided to support me on this story, as well as everyone who left me reviews! Anyways, on to the chapter!_

Akko was led to her rooms by one of the professors.

"You are quite lucky that the headmaster decided to still give you admission under Professor Urusla's special permission." The professor stated. Akko looked down at her feet in what she hoped look like shame.

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name." Akko said softly, "Also who is Professor Ursula?"

"Ursula is the astronomy teacher here. I haven't a clue why she expressed so much interest in you, but she advocated for your place, so you should thank her. As for me, you may call me Professor Finnelan." Professor Finnelan state.

"When can I see Professor Ursula to thank her? I don't have Astronomy…" Akko asked

"You'll have an opportunity soon. She expressed interest in becoming a personal tutor for you as well. I believe she will contact you with the details." Finnelan said, "Here we are. Your rooms."

Finnelan turned the knob on the door and lightly shoved it open. Sitting inside the room were, to Akko's surprise, Lotte and Sucy. Both of them perked up at the sight of Akko entering.

"I can see you three are already acquainted with each other. Good. Classes start tomorrow." Finnelan said, turning and shutting the door behind her.

"Well, I didn't expect to see you guys here!" Akko said, setting down her things on the empty bed, but still holding onto the Shiny rod.

"Neither did we expect to see you. Kind of bet that you would be kicked out." Sucy said from her bed.

"Sucy!" Lotte said, "Akko, she is just joking with you. We are glad you're okay!" the tension in the room seemed to dissipate.

"Well, we should probably get to sleep. Classes tomorrow." Sucy said.

"But how could I sleep when I'm finally accomplishing my dream!" Akko said, nearly shouting.

"It's easy. Close your eyes." Sucy said sarcastically. Akko shot her a glare, and for the first time since meeting the sadistic witch, she smiled.

"I don't know what it is," Lotte started, "But I feel like I'm closer to the two of you than I should be after only just meeting you."

"I feel the same. Maybe It's that we bonded after, you know, almost dying together!" Akko exclaimed.

"That could be an explanation," Sucy said. She glanced at what Akko was holding onto. "What is that? Is it what you saved our butts with?"

'This? This is THE Shiny Rod! You know, Shiny Chariot's wand?" Akko then delved into the story, eyes starry.

"Shiny Chariot is my idol! I went to one of her shows when I was young, and it was spectacular! Ever since then, it was my dream to become just like her! She inspired me to become a witch! She is the reason I decided to attend Luna Nova!" she plopped down on her bed and held the rod in front of her."When we were in the forest, the rod _grew_ out of the ground in front of me, like it was presenting itself on a shiny platter. Then, later when we were knocked off the broom, it started to glow, and I suddenly remembered something from Chariot's show. Somehow, the words for a spell just popped into my mind, like they came out of nowhere! When I cast the spell, the rod transformed into Shiny Chariot's bow! I shot it and it created a portal!" Akko finished.

"That is actually kind of impressive. Why don't you try using it. It might be some super powerful artifact!" Sucy said. Akko jumped off her bed and held the Shiny rod in front of her, pointing it at the bookshelf.

Taking a deep breath, Akko shouted, "Books fly!" nothing happened. She pointed the wand at th bed, "Mattress, come to life!" Again nothing happened. "Why isn't it working?"

"I have no idea. Why don't you ask Shiny Chariot." Sucy replied.

"Yeah like that's ever going to happen! She disappeared 10 years ago! As much as I would **LOVE** to meet her, it is a bit far fetched." Akko said sadly, "But, if I ever do meet Chariot, The first thing I will do is give her back the Shiny Rod!"

"Guys, we should really get to bed…" Lotte said from her bunk.

"You're probably right. Let's leave this Shiny Chariot things for another day." Akko said. She then proceeded to unpack all of her things and change into something to sleep in. Lotte turned off the light and laid down on her bed, facing her Shiny Chariot poster. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep.

Akko usually wasn't one to wake up early, but she couldn't help herself! It was the first day of becoming a witch after all! She hopped out of bed to find Lotte already up reading a book on her bed.

"Already up? I thought I was the only early riser here." Lotte said.

"You are, but I'm too excited! Today is the day where I become a witch!" Akko exclaimed.

"Hey loudmouth, keep it down. Some of us are sleeping still." Sucy said, getting up. She smirked at Akko so she knew it was a joke. The three girls set to work getting ready for class. Akko suffered a wardrobe malfunction, as she put on the wrong set of clothing at first, but got it right the second time.

"First up is Magic Linguistics," Lotte said, grabbing each of the girls' textbooks from the shelf. She handed the leatherbound books to Akko and Sucy before setting for the door. Akko started to follow, but then remembered something.

"You guys go ahead, I'll catch up soon. There's something I need to grab." Akko said. The two girls shut the door behind them, and Akko went to go grab the Shiny Rod from under her bed, but a white light shot out from under the door. A ribbon of white light dashed around the room rapidly, making Akko dizzy.

 _Wait, is that the same light I keep seeing? It also appeared right as I got the Shiny Rod_ Akko thought to herself. The ribbon of light started to slow down, until it came to a stop right in front of Akko. Where it then materialized into the form of a young woman in a slightly revealing dress.

"Eek!" Akko jumped back from the tiny white-blue woman floating in front of her. She tripped on her own feet and fell to the ground. The small woman put on a curious expression and floated closer to Akko slightly. Akko tried to scramble away, but the little woman just got a little closer. She had eyes that seemed to be studying Akko.

"W-What are you?" Akko asked the small woman floating in front of her. The little woman just looked at her in confusion.

"The Words. Words have been spoken." The small woman said softly. The small woman turned from Akko and made her way to where the Shiny Rod was laying. Akko cautiously approached.

"What do you mean 'The Words'? What are you?" Akko asked. The small woman was studying various things around the room.

"The First Ideal. Noctu Orfei Aude Fraetor." The woman said.

"The spell I cast yesterday?" Akko asked.

"Memory fuzzy. Very very fuzzy. Do not know much. Memory will come back slowly. Very slowly." The small woman said. It was almost like she was struggling to even find the words to say.

"What _Are you_?" Akko asked again. The small woman turned towards Akko. She raked her hand through her semi-translucent hair, as if she were thinking.

"More memory come back soon. Very soon. Must stay close. Must Keep safe." The small girl pointed to the Shiny Rod.

"Keep the Shiny Rod safe? I can do that, but you owe me an explanation!" Akko said to the small girl. The thing pounded its hands against her head.

"I don't remember! Memory so fuzzy! What am I? Why can't I remember!" The small woman said, "All I know is to keep safe! Memory come back slowly."

"Hey hey it's okay if you don't remember! Just tell me when you know! Is there anything you CAN tell me? Like your name?" Akko asked. The thing she was interacting with acted like it was a child who barely knew about anything.

"Name? A name… I do! I have a name!" The small woman jumped up and down like she was extremely excited.

"What is it then?" Akko asked.

"I am Sylphrena. You can call me Syl! That's my name!" The small woman, Syl, said excitedly.

"Well okay Syl. I have no idea what is going on here. Maybe I could ask one of the professors for help…" Akko suggested.

"No you can't! Don't!" Syl said frantically.

"Why?" Akko asked.

"Only you can see me! Also need to protect!" Syl pointed to the Rod, "Please keep secret?" Akko thought on it for a while, but after seeing the panicked look in Syl's eyes, Akko knew she didn't want to hurt this thing by accident, so she decided to do what it said.

"Okay I won't tell anyone. But, why can only I see you?" Akko asked

"You said the words." Syl said plainly

"Then others can see you if they just say the spell?" Akko asked.

"No not the same." Syl said. Akko was starting to get frustrated.

"Well, I really need to get to class. I'll leave the Shiny Rod here where it is safe. If you want to come with me, then do, but only talk to me when we are alone so I can talk to you without looking crazy." Akko said. Syl just nodded, turning back into a ribbon of light. Akko collected herself and took off down the corridor after Lotte and Sucy.

When Akko finally caught up, Lotte and Sucy were almost already to the first class.

"What took so long?" Sucy asked.

"Got caught up looking at something." Akko said. It wasn't really THAT far from the truth.

"Well, I'm surprised you made it without getting lost." Sucy replied.

"Hey that wasn't nice!" Lotte chastised. Sucy looked ever so slightly guilty. Akko, Lotte, and Sucy made their way into the lecture hall and found their seats. Akko was brimming with joy at getting to experience her first magic lesson.

 **A few hours later**

Akko was brimming with despair at the end of her first few magic lessons. They weren't ANYTHING like what she had expected from becoming a witch. She had seen learning a bunch of different spells and enchantments and everything else, but what she got instead was a heaping pile of disappointment. All she had learned from the last few hours were that old witches had a weird way of writing and that potions smelled bad.

Something that was sort of interesting that she saw in the last few hours was how curious of a little...thing Syl was. Akko had been caught a few times doing what looked like daydreaming, but really she was watching Syl fly around the room and inspect various objects out of curiosity. Even with that to distract her, she was still excited when it came time for lunch.

After grabbing their food, The girls found a free table and sat down and started to eat. Syl looked really confused as to why Akko was putting food in her mouth. She attempted to take a piece of one of Akko's potatoes, but when she put it to her mouth, it fell stright through her body. Turns out she _could_ do a little bit to alter the physical world, but it didn't look that also looked up to make sure Sucy and Lotte didn't notice a random piece of potato just levitate then fall to her plate. Their faces seemed to indicate they didn't notice. Suddenly, Akko heard unusually loud talking from behind her.

"Turns out the commoner did make it huh?" A voice said. Akko turned to see that one of the girls from the ley line station was talking behind her.

"Uh, yeah" Akko said.

"Tell me, What even inspired you to become a witch anyways?" The girl said. To the surprise of the girl, Akko's eyes lit up.

"When I was little, I saw a Shiny Chariot show! I was so enamored by the performance, I made it my dream to become a witch just like her!" Akko said, slightly too loudly. Eyes from nearby tables turned to look at Akko. Then, a girl with blonde and greenish hair and blue eyes walked up to Akko.

"You should know, that Shiny Chariot is frowned upon by the traditional magic world. The way she turned the sacred art of magic into a _performance_ is disgraceful!" The girl said. Akko started to shy away, but a well of strong emotions burst from inside her.

"You're wrong! Shiny Chariot is an amazing witch! She inspired many many others like me to follow their dreams!" Akko bursted out. The girl in front of her seemed taken aback by the outburst.

"We shall see. It would do you well to remember what I told you." The girls said before walking away. Akko turned, still mad to her friends.

"Can you believe her?" Akko said.

"Akko, DO you know who that was?"Lotte asked, Incredulous.

"No, why should I?" Akko asked, fuming.

"That was Diana Cavendish! She is said to be the brightest witch to ever attend Luna Nova!"

"Shows what she knows…" Akko said.

"She wasn't wrong you know…" Sucy said, "But maybe she was in the wrong to criticize you like that."

"What do you mean she isn't wrong?" Akko asked

"She means that many of the traditional witches think Chariot disrespected magic by using it like she did." Lotte said.

"The same traditional witches that teach how to read a dead language instead of real magic?!" Akko retaliated. Lotte and Sucy just looked around to see if Akko had drawn attention. She had.

"I'm sorry. I went from not having my first magic classes be like I expected to having my Idol publicly insulted." And with that, Akko grabbed her things and left the table to go back to the room.

"You shouldn't be sad." Syl said as they walked alone in the hallway.

"Well, I am." Akko said plainly, "Did you remember anything?"

"A little. Bits and pieces are coming back, mostly about how the world works." Syl said.

"Your talking is a bit more fluent as well." Akko observed.

"Yes." Syl said before getting distracted by something. She streaked off as a ribbon of light before coming back a few moments later and turning back into the form of a woman. As Akko walked, Syl kept perfect pace and floated near Akko. They made it back to the room.

"Do you remember anything important?" Akko asked, sitting down on the bed and pulling out the Shiny Rod.

"A few things. First I remember what I am!" Syl said proudly.

"What are you then?" Akko said as Syl lost track of her thoughts.

"I'm a Spren." Syl said.

"A what now?" Akko asked.

"Like a mix between a Faerie and a Pixie. Kinda. Sort of. Important thing is I am somehow linked to the Rod. And whoever the Rod chose." Syl said.

"So the Rod chose me?" Akko asked.

"I guess so. My memory comes back as our link strengthens too. I can do some other things but i don't know what they are." Syl said.

"Is that it then?" Akko asked after a period of silence.

"You need to speak the words. More Words." Syl said.

"Can you tell me what they are?" Akko asked.

"Nope. Don't know them." Syl said. Akko put the Shiny Rod back under the bed.

"Well that's sure helpful Syl!" Akko said, slightly louder than she meant to, "sorry if that sounded harsh" Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Akko said. _I hope whoever this is didn't hear me talking_ She thought.

The door opened to reveal someone holding a broom wearing a Professor's uniform.

"Hi, My name is Professor Ursula!" Ursula said. Next to Akko, Syl gasped.

 **URSULA POV**

"Well that's sure helpful Syl!" Akko's voice said from the other side of the door, "sorry if that sounded harsh"

Ursula's breath caught in her throat.

 _So it's true…_ She thought. The rod really had chosen a new owner. Ursula knocked on the door with a shaky hand and a voice said to come in. she carefully opened the door to see Akko sitting on her bed. Next to her, there was a Blue-White small woman floating in the air. Sylphrena. Ursula's friend.

"Hi, My name is Professor Ursula!" She said through the masquerade. Syl gasped next to Akko, and Akko looked over for a split second at Syl before catching herself.

"This is your School issued broom. Also, I will be your personal tutor" Ursula said.

 _I need to get out of here before I break…_ Ursula thought to herself.

"I will stop by again, for now there are matters I need to attend to." Ursula said after some quick conversation and Akko happily accepting the broom. Before she left, Ursula shot Syl a glance that hopefully she would the remember, even with the memory loss she knew she would be experiencing. The glance that said ' _keep your trap shut_ ' Hopefully it would be enough.

Ursula felt her real personality start to bleed through. Soon enough, she was Chariot again. She broke the walk into a jog, then a run, then a sprint. She needed to get to her rooms before anyone saw her. Her illusion magic was fading. Her hair started to turn red. Her eyes started to turn red.

She made it into her room, and slammed the door and collapsed onto her bed, and cried. Cried for how she hurt someone so very close to her. She cried for herself, and she cried for her failures. But most of all, she cried for Syl. The person who she had been so close to, and then hurt.

 _Thank you for reading! I loved writing this chapter, and for SURE there will be more Chariot/Ursula chapters (She is my fav character). See ya in the next one!_


	3. Chapter 3: Chariot

**Chariot**

Chariot shut the door to her room and turned to face Syl.

"So I think It's time you told me what is going on here." Chariot said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"I've told you as much as I can!" Syl pouted, summoning a translucent chair for her to sit on mid-air. As far as she had come in terms of learning human body language and such since Chariot said the first ideal, Syl was still a _horrendous_ liar. Chariot just raised a bright red eyebrow at her.

"Okay fine!" Syl said after a time, throwing her hands in the air, "Prepare yourself though. This may take a while." Chariot sat down.

"So I am, as you know, what is called a spren. Spren are actually not native to this world. I came from a distant land, but I can't remember anything of it. When I got here, I seemed to many to just be a weird looking pixie. I flew on the winds mindlessly for hundreds of years, incapable of thoughts that were anything more than basic instincts. However, one day I was found by a very powerful witch. One of the nine old witches in fact." Syl started. Chariot sat on her seat waiting for the parts she didn't know.

"I was approached by her, and she saw something in me. Some kind of well of magical power, and so she made a deal with me. In return for knowledge, I would become the guardian spirit of that rod there." Syl said, pointing to the Shiny Rod.

"I accepted the deal, but nothing changed for a while. I thought I had been deceived. After some time however, The rod chose to bond itself to a young witch. That is where things started to get interesting. You see, all I remember of that other world is that I could bond with a person, and as they grew and spoke the ideals, I would gain sentience. When the young woman bonded the rod, it was as if a cloud had been lifted from my mind, and knowledge of the basic world around me started to come back." Syl explained.

"You mean there were other witches before me that were chosen?" Chariot aske.

"Many, although I cannot remember them well. None of them made it very far, speaking 4 ideals at the very most."

"What do you mean they 'Didn't make it very far'?" Chariot asked, a slight edge to her voice.

"Well, they died is what I mean. There is a massive danger that comes with carrying the rod." Syl said. Chariot visibly paled at the thought that her predecessors had literally died trying to find the words. Syl didn't seem to notice Chariot's distress, and continued with her tale.

"Over time, even if the chosen one had not spoken any words past the first, my memory came back. It seems that the bond with the human is what gives me sentience. Yet, every time one of the carriers died, I lost all my memories and went back to square one. I will admit, I was hit pretty hard at the death of the first witch. The memories don't just disappear either. They linger for some time, as if it were designed to try to bring me grief. I soon began to not be affected by the deaths as much. Nearly all the chosen ones lasted less than a few months, a year at most. In addition, the only knowledge that I regain is the important things. Less important things like the fact that humans have to eat are new to me every time. Or at least that is what I can deduce since the workings of the world aren't coming back. I have to learn them." Syl said. Chariot paled even more.

"Don't get me wrong. Each death nearly tore me apart, i just learned to cope better. As you know, the bond lets us have a connection in everything from knowing when danger is near to having an emotional link. Very much like having a loved one, except you can feel their feelings as well. It is a very...intimate relationship." Chariot let out a nervous giggle.

"Not intimate in that kind of way! You humans with your interacting organs and-" Syl startied.

"Stop right there. No more of that." Chariot interrupted.

"You know since you didn't care to explain how that worked, I had to do my own research." Syl said

"Please tell me you didn't-"

"What spy on people? Yes I did. Human anatomy is quite interesting. I could give you a lesson if-"

"No no NO! That is NOT what I want to hear. Especially from you." Chariot protested.

"I did find it interesting how-"

"Shut your trap." Chariot said, covering her ears, shooting Syl a glance. When they met eyes, Chariot realized that Syl was just messing with her.

"Anyways, continuing with the story. There is some other magic that I can do, and some special stuff you can do as well, though I have no idea how. More words need to be spoken." Syl said.

"That sounds fun. How do I speak more words?" Chariot asked.

"You have to find them yourself. They'll come to you on their own, based off of when you are ready." Syl explained. Chariot gave an impatient look.

"I have one more question." Chariot said, "When your bond...dies, is it like dying?"

"Kind of. It is like having a part of your soul ripped from your body. The emotional side is rough, but nothing compared to having the feeling that part of yourself missing." Syl said. Chariot gulped. There was a knock on Chariot's door.

"Who is it?" Chariot asked.

"Nobody!" Croix's voice called from the other side of the door. Chariot glanced at Syl.

"Go have fun. That is all I can remember for now." Syl said. Chariot could tell she wasn't lying."

Chariot jumped up and opened the door to see Croix with a couple of her other friends.

"We're going down to town! We wanted you to come with!" One of them said.

"Sure! Sounds like a fun time!" Chariot said. And thus, she departed with her friends. Syl shot out from under the door as a ribbon of light and materialized as her normal form as she followed Chariot.

 **Years later…**

"Why do you still get nervous before every performance?" Syl asked as Chariot finished her preparations for the performance.

"I have no idea, Syl. Maybe it's still something about the fact that if I mess it up then the whole thing will be ruined!" Chariot said. Syl shook her head.

"No, it's something else." Syl responde.

"What else would it be?" Chariot asked, looking at Syl expectantly.

"I can tell when you're lying." Syl said plainly, "It's something with the dream fuel spirit isn't it?"

Chariot didn't respond.

"It is then. Why is that still worrying you? It's been weeks since you decided to stop using it." Syl asked

"Since I stopped using the dream fuel spirit, my shows haven't been able to be as extravagant and exciting. Everyone is starting to want more again! That is something I can't deliver. Attendance has gone down drastically since then. What am I supposed to to do?" Chariot explained. Syl sat and just looked at Chariot for a moment.

"There's something else too. What is it?" Syl said. Chariot shouldn't be surprised that Syl could read her so well. After all, they'd been linked for years now. "

"I'm scared." Chariot relented, "I'm scared that during the shows I used the fuel spirit, I absorbed the magical power of someone who was actually in a witch family! Or worse, absorbed the power of someone that _my show_ inspired to become a witch." Chariot muttered something else, but Syl couldn't hear it.

"I didn't hear that last part. Come again?"

"I said I'm hurt! I'm hurt that Croix deceived me like that! We were supposed to be friends!" Chariot said, starting to tear up. She _couldn't_ cry right now! She had a show soon and needed to be in good shape.

"Chariot…" Syl said, concerned.

"I just want to make everyone happy! I just can't!" Chariot said, slumping in her seat. There was a knock on the door.

"It's almost showtime Chariot! Let's go!" Her manager said from the other side of the door.

"You'll do great. Go get 'em tiger." Syl said. For some reason, Syl always had the simplest ways of cheering up Chariot. She wiped her eyes and went to go perform.

Chariot started her show as she usually did, drawing the attention of the audience. From there, things started to go downhill. Slowly, the audience seemed to lose interest. Some started yelling to do something more exciting. Looks like this show was just going to turn out like the others. As the show continued, things only got worse. Her once exciting tricks were now bland and commonplace. Next, The audience started to leave.

"Wait!" Chariot shouted. Not knowing what she was doing, Chariot cast a spell with the pure force of willpower. The Shiny Rod transformed into her hand into her normal bow, but something was different. It was much larger than normal. On its own, the massive contraption shot a bolt into the sky. Right at the moon. A few moments later, there was a flash, and when she next looked at the moon, there was a massive cross on it.

 _Did I do that?_ Chariot wondered. Out of nowhere, all the audience members hit the ground, as if something had made them pass out. Then, Chariot feld a sudden _**Tearing**_ sensation. Not any type of physical pain, but a pain in the soul. The Shiny Rod turned brown and started to disintegrate in her hand. Chariot felt as if something, a part of her, was being torn apart, separating from her soul. The tearing sensation turned into physical pain, and Chariot fell to her knees and doubled over. Then there was a heart wrenching scream in the back of Chariot's mind before the tearing sensation abruptly stopped.

Chariot fell over on the stage. She knew that voice. It was Syl who had been screaming. And now, now Chariot couldn't feel Syl. At all.

 _Syl? Are you there_? Chariot called in her mind. Syl could usually hear her that way. There was no response.

"Syl!" Chariot yelled into the dark. Again no response. Chariot felt as if a piece of her had been ripped apart. As if a part of her being had been chopped off.

Chariot struggled to her feet, at very slowly made her way across the stage. She heard people call after her, but it seemed as if they were distant, their voice far off. Chariot made her way to the room she was given and collapsed in the corner. She curled up into a ball, and cried.

She couldn't feel Syl. She couldn't hear Syl. Syl was gone.

Chariot remembered what Syl had said about the pain Syl felt when the bond was broken. That just made Chariot feel even worse. The _soul wrenching_ feeling she had felt when that weapon fired into the moon must have been what Syl had been talking about.

 _The friend I knew is as good as dead_ Chariot thought, remembering the fact that Syl would be mindless until the rod found a new owner.

Even when her managers came to ask what happened, Chariot just kept crying, eyes glazed over as if she were in a distant world. She continued to cry when the managers passed out on the ground. She continued to cry as Croix walked into the room and attempted to get Chariot to stand up.

Chariot was not in good shape. She had glazed over eyes as if she were in a distant trance and didn't respond to cues from the world around her. The only thing she understood was when Croix said, "It's time for Shiny Chariot to disappear."

 _Sorry for the shorter chapter, but it is all I wanted to do for a Chariot backstory FOR NOW. Also, thanks so much for all the support! See you soon!_


	4. Chapter 4: Continuation

Continuation

EDIT: I changed the Diana scene at the end to be less Dianakko-sih as I got a review that said they think It made sense, and I would have to agree. There will be Dianakko soon I promise, but not quite yet. New Chapters in a few days. Also, if someone has some cover art they think will work for this story, it would be greatly appreciated.

Author's note at the beginning. I highly recommend you read it but it's not necessary. (More detailed physical description of Syl inside Author Note)

 _Hey guys! So I have a few things I want to address before this chapter. First of all,I want to thank everyone for all the feedback that I have gotten so far and the support I've seen. It really means a lot to me and I want to continue this story. My next things I wanted do discuss was the feedback i got on reddit and in the reviews here from FoxOnPie. You can see the original post in the reviews. The first point brought up is that Akko does not act any different than she does in the show, even with the background change. I will admit I have managed to forget to include this while I am writing, and I want to be better with including those moments. Up until now, I had just been writing how I remember Akko to be, rather than how she would react with my new backstory. The next point is that Syl is superfluous right now. I've been working on building the traits and stuff for Syl right now, so I haven't had a chance to give her purpose yet, but it will be there. I can say that Syl's purpose other than being what allows the Shiny Rod to bond with a human and attune to their feelings, is to be what pushes Akko to be a better person. Kind of like a guide along the path of finding the words, but there will definitely be more purpose than that. My idea for her is to be very similar to the original Syl from the Stormlight archive._

 _Next up is some writing style stuff. I made a post on the Little Witch Academia subreddit a few days ago to give publicity to my story, and I was met with positive feedback so I decided to make a post on the sub every time I upload a chapter. So you can check there for new chapters as well. Anyone here from reddit that is consistently reading my stories, It would be both easier for you and helpful for me if you just made a fanfiction account and followed my story, as it gives me a better idea on the amount of people interested in my story. Anyways, I got some feedback on reddit on the fact that I am not very descriptive when I am describing characters or setting or whatnot. I believe this is a product of me trying to produce chapters too quickly so I forget to write that stuff in. As a result, I will be spending a bit more time on each chapter to ensure that the quality is there. Quality over quantity!_

 _Related to my lack of descriptions, I totally didn't give Syl enough of a description physically. Imagine a young woman, about in her early 20's or late teens, except she is about 1 foot tall. She can have whatever face you think of, but she is slender, and she wears a little dress that is the same color (Translucent blue-white) as her. The dress blends into her form, like it is part of her. This is just what she usually takes the form of, but she can take any form she wants. She could be a stormcloud, Ribbon of light, a chair if she wanted to! Anyways, it is prretty open to interpretation. If you haven't read the stormlight archive (The Books that I took Syl from and she is originally from) and you want an idea of Syl, you can google "Honor Spren" And the first image is what I imagine syl to be generally._

 _Anyways, after that, I think It's time we get back to the chapter. This chapter will be split between Chariot, both past and present, and Akko. I love Chariot too much to not write about her! I will put a line in the document directly to mark the POV change._

* * *

Chariot vaguely understood what was going on around her. First, Croix forced her to her feet supported her while they walked. They eventually made it to somewhere that seemed like a tower. Croix helped Chariot onto a broom, and soon they were making their way through a leyline.

Chariot felt as if she were in a body that wasn't hers. Sure, she saw and heard what was going on around her, but the problem was comprehending it. She felt as if she were seeing everything through a thick fog. Everything she touched she could hardly feel, as if her entire body was numb. When she looked around her, she couldn't focus on anything for more that a few moments before spacing out. Everything she heard went in one ear and out the other.

Soon, Croix and Chariot popped out of the leyline to reveal the castle of Luna Nova. Croix steered the broom towards the medical ward and led Chariot inside. The nurse seemed pleased to see the two.

She was a short old lady with gray hair and a ever so slightly hunched back. She seemed like the type of person to scold you for eating one too many cookies, but when you got to know her she was actually a really nice woman.

"Croix? Chariot? Why-" She started.

"There isn't any time! Chariot needs help!" Croix cut her off. The old lady looked at Chariot.

"Why? She looks perfectly fine to-" She cut off as she started to notice. The glazed over eyes and blank expression. The lack of response to stimuli.

"What happened?" The nurse asked, leading Chariot over to one of the beds. She just stood there staring off into the distance until Croix made her take a seat by physically sitting her down.

"Well, I decided to attend one of Chariot's performances as there was something I needed to talk to her about," Croix started, "And then something went wrong. The audience started losing interest. Then Chariot did something with the Claiomh Solais that destroyed it. She's been like this sense." She deliberately left out the part about permanently marking the moon with the shape of a star.

"Croix, I'm sorry but I don't know how much I can do," The nurse said, "But I will do what I can. Can you go fetch the headmaster and head teachers? They're all out in the courtyard."

"Why are they in the courtyard?"

"Why, they're looking at the moon of course." The nurse responded. Yes of course. Croix set off to grab the headmaster and other teachers like Finnelan and Badcock.

Croix found the professors talking amongst themselves in the courtyard, just like the nurse had said they would be. When they saw Croix approaching, they sped over to meet her.

"Croix! It's been a while! Are you here to investigate the problem of the moon?" The headmaster asked.

"No headmaster. We have an emergency. I need you to come with me to the medical ward." Croix responded.

"Well, It can't possibly be as important as the moon!" Finnelan retorted. Croix glared at her.

"If you must insist! It has to do with this whole moon fiasco you're so worried about!" Croix shouted back, "Follow me to the medical ward!" Croix said and stormed out. Finnelan stood in shock that her former student had just shouted at her. Then, all three teachers, the headmaster, Finnelan and Badcock followed after Croix.

Croix arrived back at the medical ward with the three professors following close behind. The nurse was attempting to help Chariot, but in the time Croix had been gone, she had curled up into a ball at the top of the bed by the pillow, and was crying just like she had been in her room at the stage.

"Croix, I can't even get a reaction out of her. I don't know what to do." The Nurse said.

"Is that Chariot? What is even going on here?" Badcock asked. Croix turned to the three teachers and explained the whole situation.

"What would even prompt such a reaction? Surely Losing a fancy wand wouldn't cause this!" Finnelan remarked.

"It isn't some fancy wand!" Croix retorted, "But I'm in the same boat. Why is this happening?" Suddenly, Croix heard something from Chariot's direction other than her soft crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Chariot's voice said faintly.

"Sorry for what? Talk to us Chariot!" Croix said.

"Syl, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Chariot continued.

"Who is 'Syl'?" Finnelan asked. Chariot just kept muttering.

 _What the hell is even happening?_ Croix thought.

There was a pickup in the wind...but they were inside? Croix turned to see a bunch of leaves sweep into the room on some unseen wind and spin rapidly into a leaf tornado. Then, the leaves formed into the shape of an ethereal woman. Professor Woodward.

"I think I have an idea of what is going on." The ghostly woman said.

"P-Professor woodward! It's been so long." The headmaster addressed Woodward.

"Ah yes it has, but this is not the time for pleasantries. Chariot isn't in any direct danger, but she is still in danger." Woodward started, "I believe miss Chariot has a severe soul wound."

"A soul wound? What even is that?" Croix asked.

"I cannot disclose many details to the nature of the wound itself and its cause due to an ancient agreement. However, a soul wound is caused when a part of one's being, their essence if you will, is taken away or torn apart. It is very rare as there is very little magic around still that can cause damage to the soul." Woodward explained.

"Well, that sounds pretty damn bad." Croix said harshly, "Why is she not in direct danger as you say?" Finnelan and Badcock scoffed at Croix's harsh language towards the ancient witch.

"Oh, we know each other. Get off your high horse," Croix said, prompting the two professor's jaws to drop, "How can we help Chariot?"

"That is the unfortunate thing. You can't help her. She needs to overcome this on her own." Woodward stated.

"And if she doesn't overcome it?" Croix asked.

"Then she is stuck like this forever. The best we can do is hope." And with that, Woodward disappeared as a pile of leaves on the wind.

Glancing over at Chariot, Croix felt concerned. As much strife Chariot and Croix had been through, it still hurt her to think her friend might be like this forever.

"We have a spare room at the top of one of the towers. We can keep care of her there until she gets better." The headmaster said.

"That shall work." Croix said, grabbing her broom.

"What, are you not going to see this through? You were the one who brought her here to be helped!" Finnelan yelled at Croix as she started to leave. Croix stopped for a moment before turning around.

"I will help bring her up to the top of tower, but then I have matters to attend to." Croix stated. "I need to finish what Chariot started. What I should have been chosen to do in the first place."

* * *

When Akko questioned Syl as to why she gasped when Ursula entered the room, she just dodged the question by streaking away, but Akko didn't think much of it. Soon, Sucy and Lotte walked in the door.

"We're sorry we made you mad at lunch Akko. We didn't mean to upset you." Lotte apologized.

"Yeah we didn't know you were so much of a fanatic over Shiny Chariot." Sucy added.

"Don't worry about it guys. It wasn't even that much your fault. It was that stupid Diana Catdish or whatever her name is!" Akko said, "She was the one answering all the questions in class too right? She's such a know it all!"

"It's Diana Cavendish and yeah she was. She's supposedly from a very long line of powerful witches. Who knows, maybe if we get to know her then she won't be as bad." Lotte said.

"Yeah, like I'd get to know that aristocrat!" Akko retorted. Lotte and Sucy snickered at her choice of words.

"You never know who you get to know…" Sucy said. The three sat in their room for a while talking about anything from their classes through the day to a weird looking potato chip Lotte found during lunch.

"We don't have any classes after lunch today so we are free to do whatever we want. Luckily none of the professors gave us homework today. Where do we want to go?" Lotte asked.

"I kind of want to go explore the school. We didn't have much time to do that considering while everyone else was exploring, we were getting chased by a giant chicken monster!" Akko said, glaring at Sucy. She just shrugged.

"That sounds like a fun idea. Let's go." Lotte said, and with that the three girls reluctantly got up off of their comfy beds to go exploring.

The girls went to the pavilion, kitchens, different classroom and courtyards first. On the courtyard they found many different witches either conversing about various things or flying on brooms.

"Oh that reminds me. We get our first broom practice lesson tomorrow Akko." Lotte said. Akko's eyes lit up.

"I'm so excited! I've wanted to fly ever since I was a little kid! I would practice all the time with the brooms I could find, just wishing I could take off and soar into the air!"

"But all that was fruitless. There was no sorcerer's stone to power magic!" Lotte explained. Akko had a confused expression.

"Sorcerer's stone?" Akko inquired. Lotte pointed to the glowing green stone at the top of tower.

"That's the sorcerer's stone. It gives out a magical aura and that is what enables us to use magic freely around campus. When we leave the area, our wands will hold a little bit of charge, but once that runs out, no more magic" Lotte explained.

"That makes sense I guess. Why could people fly at the Ley line station?" Akko said as the three girls found a spot in the courtyard to sit down. It was at the peak of a small hill that overlooked the broom track and had an easy way back to the school.

"The leyline provides enough energy for brooms to run off of." Lotte said, "Did you really just go jumping off of random objects trying to fly?" Akko's face expression darkened a little bit.

"I had a lot of freetime as a kid…" Akko said softly. "Much of my time was spent outside doing who knows what. The lady that ran the orphanage was really nice, but when I was out of school I was usually up to no good. I have scars on my legs from all the times I fell." She lifted her leg and pointed out some of the marks.

"Wow. Also, I forgot that you had to go to common school since you aren't from a witch family. How was that?" Sucy asked.

"I wasn't good at it. In Japan, the schooling system is very strict. You had to do everything their way no matter what it was. I didn't do well, and I couldn't ask for help at home because I didn't have…" Akko trailed off.

"Let's end this conversation here." Lotte said, concerned. Akko just nodded. Suddenly, someone on a broom came out of nowhere and crashed right in front of the three girls. After the dust settled, there was a girl with short red hair in front of them.

"A-are you okay?" Lotte asked. The girl stood up.

"Yeah nothin' Amanda can't handle!" The girl, Amanda said.

"What happened to cause you to crash and burn?" Sucy asked.

"Oh I was just practicing some acrobatics and slipped. Oh here come my friends." Two girls were walking towards the group. One was shorter with green-black hair and wore what looked like goggles on her head. The other one had a rounder face with light colored hair, and she had a bag of chips in her hand.

"My name is Amanda O'Neill, this is Jasminka, and this is Constanze Amalie von something." Amanda said introducing her friends, "Jasminka likes to eat. A lot. Constanze is like a tech wizard. Standing behind her leg is Stanbot, our little helper mad by Constanze" Akko didn't notice it at first but there WAS a little robot standing behind Constanze's leg like a scared child.

"My name is Atsuko Kagari, and these are my friends Lotte and Sucy!" Akko said, introducing her friends as well. "It's nice to meet you! We don't have any classes the rest of the day so we decided to just come to the courtyard and talk. Care to join us?"

The six girls sat and got to know each other a little bit better until it was time for the other three to leave. They parted ways and Akko, Sucy and Lotte decided to go back to their rooms. They didn't really know what to do next, So they decided to go to their own devices. Lotte went up to her bunk and pulled out some book. Sucy went to her private desk and started working with various poisons and mushrooms. Akko didn't have much, so she decided to reorganize her trading cards.

Akko pulled out all the cards from her book and started to put them back in order. Sucy spoke up from her side of the room.

"What are those Akko?" She asked.

"Oh these? These are my Shiny Chariot trading cards. There's a game to go along with them and everything, but I just collected them. They came all unordered when we crashed in arcturus forest, so I decided to reorganize." Akko explained. Sucy stopped what she was doing and walked over to Akko's bunk and picked up a card.

"Papiliodya. A-" Sucy started.

"Magical butterfly that only hatches every 120 years. It is said to give hope to those who see it." Akko finished.

"You have them all memorized?" Lotte asked. She had out down her book by now.

"Yeah I do. There was only one I didn't get my hands on. A premium card that was super rare. As I said, I had a lot of time on my hands as a kid. These cards were one of the only things I had." Akko said. Just as she finished her sentence, she saw a ribbon of light fly in from under the door and form into the shape of Syl. She inspected the cards with Akko, but she couldn't read the little spren's expression. After a bit, everyone left to go back to what they were doing.

"Guys, I'll be right back." Akko said, leaving the room. Syl followed, and as soon as she was out of earshot of anyone, she started to talk.

"What was with disappearing earlier?" Akko asked.

"Oh that was nothing. I just wandered off." She said, unconvincingly, but Akko decided not to press.

"How's your memory coming along?" Akko asked.

"Not much different than the earlier. It'll take a while." came Syl's simple response.

"Do you think I would be safe to carry around the Shiny Rod? I know you said I need to keep it safe, but nobody here would try to steal it or anything!" Akko asked. She sounded as if she was begging. Syl thought for a moment.

"I guess that's okay…" She said eventually, not being able to say no to Akko's pleading puppy dog eyes. Akko and Syl turned a corner to run into someone. All of their things fell on the ground and the first thing Akko did was to go pick up the stuff.

"Sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!" Akko said. She looked up to see that the person she had knocked over was none other than Diana Cavendish. Shocked, Akko handed Diana back the things she had dropped, and started to walk away.

"Stop!" Akko froze where she was, "I wanted to say something." Akko turned around. She hadn't really gotten a good look at Diana during lunch. She was a little taller than Akko, and had long wavy blonde hair. Her hair was lined with very light green shades and looked really well maintained. She had sparkling blue eyes and a angular face.

"Y-yes?" Akko stuttered. Diana just had an air of command around her that made Akko feel nervous for some reason.

"I actually wasn't going to do this, as the things I said at lunch earlier weren't exactly untrue, but..." Diana trailed off. She looked at Akko and she seemed very uncomfortable.

Diana took a deep breath, "But since I happened to come across you, I wanted to apologize." Diana said. That caught Akko off guard considering the hostility that Diana had shown earlier. Diana had a slow and methodical way of speaking.

"Apologize?" Akko asked.

"Yes. What I said during lunch was a bit harsh. I also should not have made a big scene and put you on the spot like I did. So I wanted to apologize." Diana repeated.

"Well, Thanks I guess." Akko said.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot and I was wondering If we could start over. Does that sound okay to you?" Diana asked. Akko was taken aback by how genuine she seemed. The tension in the air seemed to dissipate.

"That would be great!" Akko said in her normal cheery way, giving a huge smile. Diana, in her own way, smiled back. It was more of a slightly less scowly scowl. Akko turned to leave.

"I didn't catch your name." Diana said, "My name is Diana Cavendish. What is yours?"

"My name is Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko!" Akko said.

"See you around, Akko" Diana said, turning to leave. Akko did the same, and Syl caught up with her.

"Is that the girl from lunch? I forgot." Syl said.

"Aren't you supposed to be remembering things?" Akko asked.

"Just tell me!" Syl whined.

"Yes it was." Akko said, continuing her walk down the hallway. Syl followed, at stream of questions coming from her lips.

* * *

 _Alright guys! A longer chapter for this one. We will see if I'm consistent with this length or not. I went back through and edited twice so I hope its better. I started on having Akko's background affect her more. I will have some big scenes where it's important later. Also, I wanted to let everyone know that there will be a Chariot Arc that is concurrent with the Akko arc, so every few chapters there will be a Chariot chapter. Also, First Dianakko moment! There will be another few soon and they will become more and more frequent._

 _Note: I will not be doing a time skip, but rather I will be just skipping some of the non-major episodes, as some of them don't seem to fit my story very well_


	5. Chapter 5: Flying and Mentors

**Flying and Mentors**

Akko had spent the last few days in a repetitive routine, and she was grateful that she finally got to break it. After three days of getting up early, going to boring classes where they weren't even doing real magic yet, eating lunch, and either going and hanging out on the hill by the courtyard or more classes, Akko was ready for her first highlight of attending witching school. Her first day of flying practice.

"I'm so excited!" Akko yelled after finishing getting dressed.

"Hey easy on the volume there. Some of us are still half asleep." Sucy complained.

"I don't care! Today is the first time I get to fly on a broom! I've been waiting for this moment for my whole life!"

"It's kind of lackluster to be honest." Sucy said.

"Don't rain on her parade, Sucy" Lotte said, "I'm sure Akko will be full of energy anyways though." There was no response from Akko, but instead there was just a happy look plastered on her face.

Once everyone was ready, Akko grabbed the Shiny Rod and strapped it to her waistband, like she had been doing for the last few days. She had gotten a few weird looks from people, but she didn't care. Syl said that she Rod had chosen her, and she was determined to do whatever was necessary to get the rod back to Chariot. The three girls set off out of their dorm room to head to the practice field.

When the three witches got to the field, nobody else was there except for Amanda, who was showing off with her acrobatics on the empty field. They greeted her and soon, more students started to filter into the field. Not long after many girls had shown up, a short woman in a professors uniform stepped onto the field. She wore what kind of looked like a harness, with a ridiculous looking hat and goggles. A broom was strapped to her back.

"Alright!" She said, voice booming across the field, "My name is professor Nelson! I will be your flight teacher! I want you to separate into two groups, new flyers and experienced ones!" The groups of witches segregated themselves on the field, nearly everyone going to the 'experienced' group other than Akko and Sucy.

"Newbies! Time to learn to fly!" Nelson said. She spoke loud no matter how close anyone was to her. It felt like she was shouting in Akko's face.

"First! Take your broom. Hold it like this!" She held the broom bristles down from the handle and pushed it in front of her. Akko and Sucy did the same.

"Then put it like this!" She took the broom and put it between her legs, just like Akko had seen so many other witches do. Akko followed suit.

"Now I want you to imagine yourself in the air, soaring like a bird! Then the spell is "Tia Freyre"" Nelson's broom burst to life, and she rose into the air.

Akko closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could on getting in the air.

"Tia Freyre!" She yelled. Nothing happened. She looked down in confusion. Her broom hadn't even moved a little bit.

"Tia Freyre." Sucy said next to Akko, and took into the air. Akko looked down at her lifeless broom.

"Tia Freyre!" She shouted again, jumping into the air a little bit this time. Again, her broom remained lifeless.

"Now that's odd. Are you imagining yourself in the air?" Nelson asked.

"I am! I'm imagining it as hard as I can!" Akko responded, "Tia Freyre! Tia Freyre! TIA FREYRE!" Akko yelled over and over, hopping in the air like a rabbit. Still no response out of her broom. Then, two girls, one with red hair and one with black hair started laughing at Akko. Diana's lackeys, Hannah and Barbara.

"Looks like little Akko can't even fly a broom! We knew you were incompetent, but we didn't know you were THIS incompetent!" Hannah taunted before flying off to tell everyone. Akko got so mad she was started jumping over and over, yelling 'Tia Freyre' trying to take to the air, but it just wouldn't work.

Eventually, the class ended and everyone got the rest of the day off. Lotte and Sucy met up with Akko as they were about to leave to walk to their spot on the hill. They got there before Amanda, Constanze and Jasminka.

"What was wrong Akko?" Lotte asked.

"No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the stupid broom to work!" Akko pouted. She pulled she Shiny rod out of her waistband and held it out in front of her. Syl dashed in as a ribbon of light and materialized in her normal form, sitting on the end of the rod as if it were a chair.

"Maybe I just won't be able to…" Akko said softly. Suddenly, Syl's head whipped towards Akko, a furious look on her face. Akko was taken aback by the sudden look of anger.

"Don't you EVER say that again!" Syl yelled at Akko. Akko leaned back so she wasn't so close to the little spren, trying to look as normal as possible.

"You don't get to talk that way! You'll get it eventually! I know you will! You just need to work hard at it! No matter what you do, you need to believe in yourself! That's how you get better!" Syl said. Akko was speechless at the importantly, she was wondering where Syl had heard that phrase before.

 _You need to believe in yourself! That's your magic!_ The words echoed in Akko's mind.

"Akko are you okay?" Lotte asked, "You're kind of staring off into space." Akko shook herself back to everyone else's reality, the one where Syl wasn't present. She gave a look to Syl that she had gotten a few times that week. It said 'we will talk later'. Syl streaked off, and she looked like she was still a little angry.

"Yeah I'm okay." Akko said, starting to put the Shiny Rod back where it belonged. Just as she started to do so, a group of 3 girls walked by, but they stopped right in front of Akko. Hannah, Barbara, and in front, none other than Diana Cavendish.

"What is that?" Diana asked, pointing to the Shiny Rod in Akko's hands. Akko gave a awkward side glance. Although Diana had apologized for her actions, that didn't mean her harsh opinions of Shiny Chariot were any different.

"It's umm…." Akko started, "It's Shiny Chariot's Shiny rod." Hannah and Barbara just looked to each other and started giggling. Diana ignored them.

"There is no way its real. Almost certainly a fake." She said plainly.

"It isn't! It appeared to me in the Forest of Arcturus! And…" Akko trailed off, catching herself before she mentioned Syl. Diana gave her a look to continue.

"The point is it's the real deal!" Akko said, "I'll show you!" Akko jumped to her feet, turning to the massive statue that wasn't too far from where they all were.

"I bet even if it WAS the real thing, Akko couldn't do anything with it! She can't even fly! What kind of witch can't fly?" Barbara said. Akko ignored the snide remarks. Akko arrived at the statue, Diana and her lackeys in the back, with the rest of Akko's friend group following behind.

Akko turned to the massive stone statue and held the Shiny Rod out in front of her. At that moment, a ribbon of light streaked in from the corner of Akko's vision, materializing as Syl.

"Akko! The Rod doesn't work like this! All you'll end up doing is embarrassing yourself!" Syl said. Akko shook her head.

"I have to try. It has to work. I need it to. So that I can prove to someone at least I'm not a failure." Akko said under her breath, all emotion absent from her voice. Syl's concerned face turned back to Akko and she understood there would be no changing her mind.

Akko took a deep breath, and focused as hard as she could on the task in front of her.

"Statue! Move!" Akko shouted, waving the Shiny Rod at it. The statue remained still, Its stone eyes seeing straight through Akko. Akko waved the Shiny Rod again, commanding the statue to move. Still nothing.

Then, the statue was enveloped in a bright green light, and it moved. The change was small, but noticeable nonetheless. Akko turned to where the crowd was just to see Diana putting her wand away, its tip still glowing green. So Diana was the one who had moved the statue, not Akko.

Akko sank to her knees, letting the Shiny Rod fall to her side, clattering to the ground. Diana and the rest of the group walked up where Akko knelt.

"I knew it. She can't do anything right!" Hannah said, walking straight by Akko with Barbara.

"It must be a fake then. The real thing would've done something." Diana said, starting to walk off.

"No it isn't!" Akko said, looking up, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Huh?" Diana stopped, again turning to face Akko.

"It isn't a fake! I'm just a lousy excuse for a witch who can't do anything right! I fail at everything in class so far, I can't fly, _I can't even get the legendary Shiny Rod to work for me!_ " Akko shouted, storming off, leaving the Shiny Rod on the ground where she had dropped it. Diana and the rest of Akko's friends just looked at her in shock as she ran away, hands up to her face.

"Akko…" Syl said, watching her walk off.

"That was...Out of character." Sucy said after a bit.

"Aren't you her friends? Maybe you should go try to comfort her." Diana said, addressing the rest of the group.

"Yeah if we can even find her. Are you going to come too?" Lotte asked. Diana shook her head.

"I really don't know what to make of that girl. Even so, I don't really know her all that well. I wouldn't be a good one to comfort her" Diana said. Even though Diana knew it wouldn't be a good idea for her to accompany everyone else, She kind of wanted to as she felt responsible, at least in part, for what had just transpired. Instead, Diana just sat and watched as the group of six girls followed in pursuit of Akko. Diana turned to leave, but noticed something lying on the ground still. The Shiny Rod.

* * *

Syl flew through the air, surroundings a blur around her. She normally would be overjoyed by flying free, but not now. Even with their bond as weak as it was still, Syl could feel the negative emotions pouring in from Akko. Sadness, disappointment, anger, jealousy, but most overwhelming of all, uselessness.

Although her memory coming back was slow, something had happened a few days back, the second day Akko was at Luna Nova. Her memories of a certain person had returned, all at once. All of her memories of Chariot Du Nord. All previous times that the bond had broken, it was because the witch had died. When her bond with Chariot had broken, it had been different. Instead of a gradual decay into mindlessness, the transition had happened over the course of a few moments.

Syl now knew something else had happened. Something Chariot had done, purposefully or not, had broken the bond, but Chariot hadn't died. She had survived the break, and was now a teacher at the school. When she saw Chariot come through the door to give Akko her broom, for some reason, all of Syl's memories of Chariot had returned.

Now was not the time to figure these semantics out about how the bond worked though. She would also ask Chariot what had happened all those years ago at a later time.

Syl flew up the inside of the central tower, where all the teachers rooms were, flying under the doors of each room to check the occupant. Of course, the last room she checked, the room at the very top of the tower, held to person she was looking. Syl silently came inside the room to find Chariot leaning over a desk, looking at some old looking book. Her hair and eyes were bright red, just like the normal Chariot, so her illusion spell she had been using when she met Akko mustn't have been active. Syl rematerialized in her normal form.

"Chariot," Syl said simply. The sudden noise caused Chariot to jump in her seat, letting go a little yelp.

"Who is-" Chariot cut herself off as she turned to see Syl floating behind her. "Oh. So you do remember something… You probably hate me" Chariot's demeanor slackened.

"Chariot. When I saw you the other day, I remembered everything about _you_. Nothing about the rod or anything, but everything about you." Syl started. Chariot, still shocked by Syl's visit, put her face in her hands.

"I'm so sorry Syl. I'm sorry for everything I did to hurt you." Chariot choked out. She sounded as If she was about to cry.

"Chariot, we can talk and catch up another time. For now, Akko needs your help." Chariot looked up.

"Why does she need my help?" She asked. Syl explained what had happened in the courtyard.

"There are a lot of negative emotions coming from her right now. She really needs someone she can trust and lean on." Syl explained. Chariot silently nodded. She quietly muttered the illusion spell, turning her hair and eyes to a dark shade of blue.

"Where is she?" Ursula asked, voice quiet. She obviously was hurting inside. Syl concentrated, thinking.

"A broom closet in the eastern side of campus." Syl finally said. Ursula nodded, setting out the door.

"I owe you an explanation." Ursula said as she left the door, leaving Syl alone in the room.

* * *

Ursula made her way to the east campus, thoughts of her past filling her mind.

 _Now isn't the time. Worry about that later_ she told herself. Ursula found the closet Syl had mentioned, and the door was not all the way closed and a light was on inside. She peeked her head in and knocked on the door.

Inside, sitting on the ground curled up, was Akko. She looked up when she heard a knock on the door. She had been crying.

"P-Professor Ursula?" Akko asked.

"Yes." Ursula said simply, "Can I join you?" When Akko didn't respond, Ursula simply let herself in, sitting down next to Akko up against the wall. They sat in silence for some time before Ursula spoke up.

"So what happened?" Akko just looked down at the ground in front of her, arms still wrapped around her knees.

"Akko, what happened?" Ursula insisted.

"I messed up. Just like always." She said, voice empty.

"Akko, you're new to this. Of course you aren't going to get everything right on the first try." Ursula said.

"You don't get it! My entire life has been me trying to do something, only to fail. It happened in primary school back in Japan, and now it's happening here!" She said, "I know we only just began to work on spells, but even now, I can't get anything even a little right…"

"Akko, why did you want to become a witch?"

"Does it matter?"

"Just tell me. Why did you want to become a witch?" Ursula insisted.

"10 years ago, before my mother passed, she took me to a Shiny Chariot show. It was so amazing and wonderful! I was so in love with the show that all I wanted to do from that moment on was to become a witch. It was all I wanted, with all my heart." Akko explained. This was the first time that Ursula had heard about Akko's family situation.

"And do you still want to become a witch?" Ursula asked. Akko looked to Ursula beside her.

"With all my heart." Akko responded.

"Then I know you can do it. It may be hard for you, but what you need to remember is to work hard. Even harder than other students. They've grown up with magic their whole lives, so they're already 4 steps ahead of you." Ursula said.

"But every time I try, I fail." Akko said, head drooping.

"Akko, I believe in you. I know you can do it. You just have to believe in yourself." _That is your magic._ Ursula added in her own mind.

"That is my magic" Akko said softly, using the Shiny Chariot phrase, "Professor Ursula, thank you. I guess I can be down on myself sometimes…"

"Would you like to start tutoring sessions soon to help get you caught up?" Ursula asked. Akko looked to her.

"Yes please! That would be very helpful!" Akko said. Her dreary mood seemed to have disappeared. Her and Ursula stood up to leave the dark room. As soon as they stood up, Akko threw her arms around Ursula in a hug. She let go a moment later.

"Thank you for coming. I might've stayed there for a long time otherwise."

"You're welcome. It seems that I'm not the only one that came to help though…" Ursula said, gesturing to the door. Lotte, Sucy, Amanda, Jasminka, and Constanze stood outside the door.

"Everyone… you came to help…" Akko said. She looked like she was tearing up again.

"Well of course we did, dummy. We care about you and stuff." Sucy said.

"We wouldn't let you come here and be sad!" Lotte added.

"Guys…. You're going to make me cry…" Akko said wiping her tears away with her sleeve. "I don't deserve friends like you."

"Of course you deserve friends like us! As much of a nutjob you can be sometimes, we like keepin' you around!" Amanda said. Then, the group parted as someone approached. Someone stepped into the doorway. None other than Diana Cavendish, holding the Shiny Rod.

"I believe this is yours." Diana said, holding it out to Akko. Akko looked down at the Shiny Rod, then back up to the group. She carefully took the Rod.

"Thank you all! I feel much better now!" Akko said. She then proceeded to pull everyone into a group hug, and Diana was crushed in the middle. Ursula laughed at how uncomfortable she looked. The group broke.

"Guess this means you're not as much of an emotionless human as I thought." Sucy said to Diana.

"I was simply returning Akko her possession." She said, straightening her skirt. It wasn't very convincing, "But I will admit I was slightly worried about her well being as well." And with that, Diana stalked off.

"Who knew. Guess it is possible to get an emotional response out of that girl. Akko must be pretty good at making friends." Sucy said.

"She didn't act like she was our friend. Just a slightly more friendly stranger." Amanda added.

"I'm sure she'll warm up to us eventually!" Akko said, back to her optimistic attitude. And with that, everyone started to go, leaving Ursula to watch as the group strode away, a smile on her face.

 _Hey guys! I hope you liked the long chapter! More lighthearted chapter next! I will continue to respond to reviews as they come in! Don't forget to follow if you haven't already! See ya soon!_

 _P.S. I hope I did a good job on giving Akko a slightly less peppy attitude. I just finished reading the Exchange fanfic, and I took some inspiration from Akko's actions in that_


	6. Chapter 6: Metamorphosis

**Metamorphosis**

 _ **IMPORTANT AUTHOR's NOTE:**_ _So I completely spaced when I was writing chapter 5, and forgot to mention that I edited the final scene of episode 4. I just made a few subtle changes. Also, slightly less important but still important note at the end of the chapter. There is going to be an andrew arc that is two chapters long here. One of the buildup and one of the rest of it._

* * *

Akko sat on her bed, waking up really late. As today was the weekend, Akko had slept all the way to 9AM, as she didn't need to be up early for classes. It had been about a week since Akko's outburst, and it seemed as if she had completely recovered. Or it least she let it seem that way on the surface. There was still some hurt deep down.

Classes had started to become slightly more interesting. Instead of every single class being boring lectures about magical traditions and such, only half the classes were boring garbage! Akko had also began her private lessons with Professor Ursula, and although thins were coming along slowly, Akko was appreciative for the extra help. In addition, Ursula had shot to the very top Akko's favorite teachers at the school.

Currently in the room, Sucy was still asleep, but Lotte was up and reading just like she normally was. Syl sat on a shelf in the corner, reading off of the page of an open book. Her memory was coming back slowly, and her knowledge of how humans worked was still limited. She had, however, learned how to read pretty quickly. For example, the other day, Syl had asked Akko what she was doing when she went to the restroom. That had been an...interesting conversation.

While everyone was doing their own thing, Akko was being responsible for once and doing her homework. Ursula's help would let Akko stay as close to par as possible with the actual spellwork as possible, though it was still up to Akko to do the redundant paperwork. So far, Akko had gotten through her magic history homework, though a large portion remained from other classes. Akko looked up at the time.

"Oh! I need to go to Ursula's lesson!" She yelped, realizing she would barely have enough time to make the run from her room to the abandoned classroom they used. Akko grabbed the Shiny Rod off of the nightstand and rushed out the door, earning a tired grunt from Sucy, who Akko had woken.

Akko speed walked through the hallway until she made it to the classroom. Ursula was already seated in the room, a book in hand. Even though she wore the proper uniform, it was disheveled, and her hair wasn't well kept. She looked as if she had just woken up.

"Are you a heavy sleeper too, professor?" Akko asked. Ursula looked up from her book and smiled.

"I guess so. Good morning Akko" She yawned, "Today we will continue working on metamorphosis magic, as you have a test on it tomorrow. I was told by Professor Badcock that if you do not pass the test, you will not be able to attend the feast tomorrow, and that instead you will be practicing until you get it down." Ursula explained.

"There's a feast tomorrow?" Akko asked, "And professor! That's my worst magic we've learned so far! I stink at metamorphosis magic!"

"Yes there is a feast. Some of the politicians from the government are here on a visit so we give them a warm welcome. There is a lot of food prepared. And that is precisely why we are practicing it today."

"Okay fine! But next time can we work on flying again? I think I may be able to get it." Akko said, determined as always. Ursula gave in.

"IF you get metamorphosis magic today then I suppose that we can do that next time yes." Akko gave a little shriek of delight. Ursula uncaged the mouse she had set aside and laid it down on the table.

"You remember the spell correct?" Ursula asked. Akko nodded, glaring at the mouse on the table in front of her.

"Focus on the animal you want it to become. Think of every feature that that animal has with it, and keep all those in your mind as you cast the spell." Ursula instructed. After a short time, Akko took a deep breath.

"Metamorphie Faciesse!" Akko shouted, waving her wand at the mouse. A bolt of green energy shot out of the tip of Akko's wand, spinning in rapid circles, before making a poof of smoke. Standing in front of Ursula, instead of the mouse changing, Akko herself had grown a pair of donkey ears.

"It didn't work." Akko said. Ursula snickered.

"It kind of worked." Ursula said, "You have donkey ears now." Akko groaned, causing Ursula to laugh even more. Soon, Ursula's laughing caused Akko to start laughing. Their laughter devolved into the two sitting in the classroom, uncontrollably laughing for no reason. There was a knock on the door. Neither of the two could find the words to answer. The door opened.

"What are you two doing?" Diana Cavendish asked. Akko and Ursula momentarially stifled their laughter to answer Diana. When Akko turned though, Diana saw the cause of the problem.

Then amazingly, Diana let loose a little laugh. "Are those donkey ears? How did you manage to do that?" She asked. This just caused Akko and Ursula to burst out laughing again. Diana just started at them for a moment, before closing the door and leaving.

Akko's tutoring session lasted for another hour or so, and there was a little bit of progress made. Akko had gone from being able to give herself donkey ears, to giving herself different traits of different animals. In Akko's book that was progress. She agreed to meet up again after lunch to try to get more practice in and _possibly_ be able to pass the test. As she normally did, Syl met up with Akko after she got out. For some reason, Syl never even went into any of the meetings with Ursula.

"How was it?" Syl asked. Akko just shrugged. She walked through the campus, and found all of her friends sitting on the normal spot on the hill, talking. As Akko approached, she heard the end of a conversation.

"And I heard the food they cook is really good!" Lotte said.

"Are you guys talking about the feast tomorrow? Why is it such a big deal?" Akko asked. Amanda scoffed.

"Why is it such a big deal? Akko, it is the single biggest feast of the entire year! Everyone goes! And also, I heard the son of a big politician is coming this year too!" Amanda explained.

"Is it really that big of a deal?" Akko asked, beginning to get worried. Amanda nodded. She had thought the feast would just be a really fancy meal, and that she wouldn't be missing much. By how Amanda explained the whole situation, Akko was starting to become worried about the fact she was probably going to miss it.

"I'm sorry to say I might be missing it." Akko said, disappointed. Everyone looked to her.

"Why?" Sucy asked.

"Professor Badcock said that I can't go to the feast unless I can pass the metamorphosis test tomorrow. If I don't, then i have to stay in my room and practice until I can do it…" Akko muttered. Silence for a moment.

"Isn't Ursula helping you with it?" Lotte asked. Akko nodded.

"It's just coming along slowly. I don't know If ill be able to perfect it by tomorrow…" Akko said. Amanda pointed to the Shiny Rod.

"Maybe you can use that thing to do it? Didn't it used to be able to do some crazy magic?" Amanda asked. Akko just shook her head.

"I suppose I could ask Ursula, but I don't think it works that way." Akko said. There was some silence for a while.

"Well I believe you can do it!" Lotte encouraged.

"Yeah you got it!" Amanda said.

"Thanks guys." Akko said, "Who is it you said is coming?"

"Some kid of a big name politician." Amanda said.

"His name is Andrew Hanbridge. I've heard he's _Really_ attractive." Lotte said, "All of the girls fawn over him." Akko just shrugged. Everyone in the group gave Akko a weird look.

"What?" Akko asked.

"You, of all people, aren't freaking out over hearing a really hot guy is visiting the school and you're going to miss it?" Sucy asked. Surprisingly, Akko blushed.

"Umm...I'm just not interested I guess…" Akko said, a hint of awkwardness in her voice. Amanda raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean 'not interested'?" She asked.

"U-uhh...I'm not _interested_." Akko put an emphasis on the last word.

"I'm confused." Sucy said. Everyone muttered in agreement with Sucy. Akko's blush deepened.

"Guys, _I am not interested_. Like at all." Akko said again. No response from everyone else. They all just looked at Akko.

"Don't make me come right out and say it!" Akko said, burying her face in her hands to cover how embarrassed she was. Everyone just looked at her weirdly. Finally, a response from Sucy.

" _Ohhhh!_ I get it now." She said, then looked at Akko."Really?" Akko just nodded.

"Sucy! What is it?" Amanda asked, "We want to know!"

"You see, Akko isn't interested because she doesn't like boys. She likes girls." Sucy explained, and looked at Akko, "Did I get it right?" Akko just nodded, her face as red as a tomato. The whole group just looked at Akko for a moment.

"Oh that makes sense." Amanda finally said, "You could have just said it outright." Akko just gave her a weird look.

"It's not...frowned upon here? You all aren't going to ditch me?" Akko said.

"Of course not!" Lotte said, "I'm fine with it. Nobody has any problems right?" Everyone in the group shook their head. Akko looked as if a 50 pound weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"I was worried. In Japan, although it isn't exactly _illegal_ , It is frowned upon by society. If you're like that, then people won't be your friend. It's not as bad for guys, but girls are expected to grow up and be good housewives, and being like me gets in the way of that. I'm glad all of you accept me as I am." Akko said.

"Here in Britain, people are a lot more free about that kind of thing. None of us are going to judge you for who or what you like." Amanda said. Akko smiled.

"Thanks everyone!" Akko said. They enjoyed the rest of their time until lunch talking about random nonsense. The bell rang to eat, and everyone made their way to the cafeteria, and it was an uneventful lunchtime, and soon it was time for Akko to leave to go back to her lesson with Ursula. She bode farewell to her friends and walked her way across campus. Syl flitted in as a ribbon of light and materialized next to Akko.

"Where were you earlier? You seem to disappear every time I go to my extra lessons." Akko noted.

"I was exploring." Syl said simply.

"Well, you should come to this one. Maybe you could give me extra tips." Akko asked.

"But…" Syl started to complain.

"No buts. Come on." Akko said, opening the door to the normal classroom. Ursula was waiting inside, just like normal. When she looked up from her book, She looked astonished, but she covered it up quickly.

'Good afternoon Akko. Ready to practice more?" Ursula asked. Akko nodded her head energetically. Ursula smiled. The two got to work on Akko mastering the metamorphosis spell. Syl sat on a shelf up against the wall and watched the happenings. Akko noticed as they went that Ursula looked a little anxious.

"What's the problem professor?" Akko asked.

"Nothing really. I don't know what other advice to give you. So There seems like there's some kind of disconnect somewhere." Ursula furrowed her eyebrows. Akko thought of something. She went over to where her things sat and grabbed the Shiny Rod. This caught Syl's attention.

"Is there something I can do with this?" Akko asked Ursula. Ursula just gazed at the Rod for a moment before shaking her head.

"I don't think so. I don't think it works that way." Ursula said. Akko's face drooped. Suddenly, Syl's face lit up.

"Akko! I remember something!" She said. She didn't seem to realize that Akko couldn't talk right now.

"I'll just come out and say it. The only time the Shiny Rod works for you is when your heart and emotions are fully in tune with it!" Syl sounded so excited that she had remembered that piece of information. Akko glanced over at Syl then to Ursula.

"Could I try anyways, professor?" Akko asked. Ursula simply nodded. Akko held the Shiny Rod in front of her and focused on the mouse, and the animal she wanted to turn it into.

"Metamorphie Faciesse!" She shouted, waving the Shiny Rod. Nothing happened. Akko let the Shiny Rod fall to her side.

"I thought that If I believed hard enough, something would happen." Akko said. Ursula put her hand on Akko's shoulder.

"Akko, there was something I wanted to tell you. It's a lesson I learned long ago, from a...friend." She said. Akko turned to look at her mentor.

"Why again is it that you wanted to become a witch?" Ursula asked.

"I've told you this already. I saw Shiny Chariot show, all I've ever dreamed of is to become a witch. I just wish it wasn't so stinkin slow!" Akko siad. She was frustrated that she couldn't get the metamorphosis spell down.

"This is something I learned from Chariot herself." Ursula said. Akko slowly turned to Ursula, shock on her face.

"You knew Shiny Chariot?" Akko asked.

"Well, I was friends with her while we attended school here…" Ursula said. Over Akko's shoulder, Syl raised an eyebrow at Ursula. Suddenly the floodgate on Akko's mouth opened, and questions poured from her mouth.

"Akko!" Ursula interrupted. Akko shut up for a moment. "I can answer all your questions later. What I wanted to tell you is that dreaming of becoming a witch isn't enough you have to work for it. You don't get the things you dream of, you get the things you work for." Ursula said. Syl's eyes went wide. Luckily, Akko couldn't see her.

"You don't get the things you dream of, you get the things you work for. That has a sort of ring to it. Just like something Chariot would say." Akko muttered. She stood up straight and pulled out her normal wand, and she seemed to be revitalized with passion.

"I will work until I get this spell, and I won't stop!" She said, determined. Over the next few hours, Akko made some progress. She was able to now affect herself with the whatever animal she wanted to, though with some flaws. She could turn herself into an elephant, but her ears would be rabbit ears instead. She still couldn't affect the mouse. Still, she kept going, determined to get better. It was starting to get dark, though. Ursula stood up after a moment.

"I need to run to the restroom. I will be back." She said. Then, behind Akko's back, she pointed at Syl, who was sitting on the shelf once more, then pointed to herself as if to say "Follow". Luckily, Syl picked up on it. As soon as they were out the door, Ursula spoke up.

"We aren't getting much progress, and I'm beginning to worry. Do you remember how to empower magic?" Ursula asked. Syl floated for a moment thinking.

"Very vaguely. I remember what it was, but I can't remember how to do it. I couldn't yet, even if I wanted to." Syl said. Ursula slumped.

"Why can't you?" She asked.

"She needs to speak more words. She's getting close to the second one, I can feel it. Your tutoring sessions have helped accelerate her towards it." Syl explained. Ursula groaned.

"We'll just have to hope for the best, although I think she will not be able to go to the feast tomorrow. Which is really sad." Ursula said, "Also, I still owe you an explanation. Can you come to my room at night one day?" Syl nodded. Ursula started to walk off.

"Where are you going?" Syl asked.

"I actually did have to go to the bathroom. Go encourage Akko or something." Ursula said, striding off.

* * *

 _I have a quick authors note I'd like you guys to read. So I absolutely love writing this story. LWA is one of my favorite series ever, and I really enjoy contributing to the community. And don't take this as me being unappreciative and haughty, because I love all of you. That being said, On this story I'm a bit confused as to what is happening. I'm getting people following the story and a lot of people reading my new chapters, but I'm not getting many reviews, so i don't know what you guys thoughts are on each chapter, and what I can do to improve. I guess i'm just asking for feedback and some more communication with the fans of this fic._

 _Also, I was considering a "After season 1" Dianakko fic. It wouldn't overtake this fic and I would continue to write both. I would like everyone here to write a review on whether or not they would like to read a story like that, if you have an opinion on it._

 _Thanks everyone! See you in the next one_


	7. Chapter 7: Andrew

**Andrew**

 _Hey guys! I just wanted to start off this chapter with a quick thank you! It was great to see all your reviews on last chapter! Keep em coming!_

The last thing Akko remembered was falling asleep inside the classroom. When she woke up, she was in her bed. Turns out she had exhausted herself practicing, and had passed out. Ursula must have taken her to her bed afterwards.

 _She's always looking out for me…_ Akko thought.

"Come on Akko! You're going to be late for your class!" A voice shouted. Groggily, Akko sat up in her bed. Everyone was already awake, but the one who had woken her up was Syl, her hands resting on her hips. Akko rubbed her eyes before getting up to get ready.

Akko wasn't feeling confident going into the classroom for her metamorphosis exam. She had barely made any progress at her previous lesson. Still, Akko was determined to pass the test, if only to go to the feast for the food. When Akko got there, Professor Badcock told everyone to get into a line. As Akko was the last one to the classroom, naturally she was at the back of the line. As the line got shorter and shorter, Akko only got more and more nervous.

"It's alright Akko! I believe in you." Syl said encouragingly. Akko nodded. Next in line was Sucy. She went up to the mouse on the desk.

"Metamorphie Faciesse." She said. With a swish of green light, the Mouse turned into a large bat. Lotte went up and turned the mouse into a large rodent.

Diana went up, and with an effortless swish of her wand, the mouse turned into a unicorn. A _bloody unicorn_! There was applause around the classroom. Next up was Akko.

"Oh look! It's time for Luna Nova's dunce to fail once more!" A Barbara's voice said from the back of the classroom.

"Ignore them." Syl advised, and Akko did. She gulped and stood in front of the mouse. Then a deep breath.

"Metamorphie Faciesse!" She said confidently, waving the wand in front of her. There was a swirl of green light before a poof of smoke. The mouse didn't change, but in Akko's place stood a mouse. Laughter from various people in the classroom. Badcock sighed and turned Akko back to a human.

"Improvement Miss Kagari, however turning yourself into a mouse was not in the criteria. I won't give you a failing grade on this assignment, but you shall not attend the feast tonight until you can transform other creatures." Badcock stated. Akko's shoulders slumped.

A few hours later, Akko was sifting through her things in silence in her room. Everyone else was at the feast that was about to start. Lotte and Sucy had promised to steal some food for Akko and bring it back.

"You'll get it eventually. I know it!" Syl said, trying to cheer Akko up. Akko just grunted.

"You're close to the second word. I can feel it." Syl said quietly. This made Akko look up sharply.

"What does that mean?" Akko asked.

"My memory is slowly returning. All I've remembered other than what I've told you is that as you say more of the ideals, more ancient magic is returned to the Rod that you can use. I know what they all are, but I can only remember one so far." Syl explained.

"I haven't really been focusing on the words to be honest…" Akko said apologetically.

"I know, and it's not that big of a deal yet. I just know that you're close to the second one." Syl said.

"I don't even know what unlocking the words does, Syl." Akko admitted.

"I don't know what happens after the 7th word. All I know is that it must be done," Syl started before saying something _very_ risky.

"If you complete enough words, I think you may eventually meet Chariot." Sly said. Akko jumped so hard in her seat that her knees hit the desk.

"I m-might meet _Shiny Chariot?_ " Akko asked. Syl just nodded, "How do you know?"

"I just have a feeling. She got to the 6th word. If you get that far, you may meet her on your quest." Syl said, "I know you have the potential Akko. It just isn't unlocked yet."

Something clicked inside Akko's brain.

She scrambled for her book of trading cards. She frantically flipped through it until she found what she was looking for. She held the card up.

"The Fountain of Polaris. It is said to unlock the magical potential of those who are ready." She said excitedly, "If I go there, my hidden potential as a witch will be unlocked!"

"Well, where is it?" Syl asked. Akko flipped the card to its back.

"It says it is on the north campus of Luna Nova, and it will only appear to those who truly wish to find it." Akko read, "The north campus is normally off limits, but it shouldn't be guarded since everyone is at the feast!" Akko jumped up excitedly. She grabbed the Shiny Rod off her desk and crept off to sneak around campus, Syl following close behind.

* * *

Diana sat off to the side during the feast, ignoring pretty much everyone around her. She needed to be official and uphold the Cavendish name, after all.

The feast hall was loud and obnoxious, as the Hanbridges hadn't shown up yet. Barbara had sat next to Diana as always, but Diana ignored their chatter.

Suddenly, the large wooden doors to the room burst open, and two men strode in.

"Ah, the Hanbridges! Welcome to Luna Nova!" Headmistress Holbrooke said from her seat at the front of the room. As the two walked down the aisle, there was muttering from the entire hall.

"He is so handsome…"

"Is that Andrew?"

"His hair, so well kept. They say he goes to one of the top educational schools in the country…"

Diana just shook her head and continued to eat, attempting to ignore the chatter. Diana and Andrew had been childhood friends. Well, friends wasn't a good term for it. _Acquaintance_ was a better description.

"Diana, he is so cute! What do you think?" Hannah said next to her. Diana glanced at her sideways.

"Not interested." She said simply, and ignored any further questions. Only Diana knew on the inside that the reason she wasn't...infatuated with Andrew went deeper than the fact that they grew up together. Diana hadn't really ever had any romantic interest.

 _In boys anyways…_ she thought to herself.

"Miss Cavendish, would you care to give Mister Andrew a tour of the school?" The headmistress asked. Diana pulled herself back to reality and stood up.

"Of course, headmistress." Diana said, although begrudgingly. Diana walked towards the door of the room, and Andrew followed closely behind.

* * *

Akko crept through the empty hallways, hoping that no one would be around to catch her.

"This is probably a bad idea…" Syl mumbled, "You could get in trouble. Again."

"But think about it! What if the fountain unlocks my hidden potential? Then I'll be just like Chariot!" Akko said, spinning in a circle on her heels.

"We don't even know if the thing it real!" Syl said, but on the inside she knew that the fountain was _very_ real. It is what had given Chariot the power to use the Shiny Rod at will.

"It has to be real…" Akko said quietly. Suddenly, Akko heard some talking from the other side of the quad, opposite of where she was walking.

* * *

"And this is the quad. Some witches come here to spend time with their friends or just relax." Diana explained as Andrew followed, uninvested.

"Yes, interesting." Andrew said.

"Shall we move on?" Diana asked.

"I suppose so. I will admit I am not that interested right now." Andrew said.

"You were never interested in magic ever since you were a child, _Mister Hanbridge_." Diana said, her tone icy. Andrew ignored the hostility as Diana turned to leave. Suddenly, he saw someone on the other side of the quad, and turned to look. There was a short girl suspiciously creeping.

* * *

"I thought everyone was supposed to be at the feast! Why is Diana here with that guy?" Akko asked, turning and attempting to hide herself up against a wall.

"I don't know!" Syl said, before realizing something, "He might be that Andrew guy everyone was talking about at lunch yesterday."

Akko thought for a moment, "But then why would Diana be there? Shouldn't she be at the feast?"

Syl ignored the question and looked around the wall. When she turned to look back at Akko, her eyes were wide.

"Akko! He's coming!" Syl said, panicked.

 _This is bad…_ Akko thought. She couldn't let anyone find her in the hallways! Suddenly, a risky thought came to mind. She pulled out her wand.

"Metamorphie Faciesse!" She whispered, hoping it would work. There was a flash of green light, and when the smoke could disappeared, she hadn't turned into a mouse to get away like she had hoped, but instead she had grown bunny ears. AKko slumped against the wall and sat there, defeated.

 _Maybe he won't see me?_ Akko thought. Then, Akko felt a sharp pain in her newly grown ears.

"Eek!" She shrieked, jumping back. Behind her was standing the boy, Andrew, "What did you do that for?"

Andrew just tilted his head and looked at Akko again, then reached out and pinched the ears again. Akko jumped back.

"Hey! Stop that!" Akko said, annoyed.

"Sorry, I was just wondering, are those real?" Andrew asked.

"Of course they're real!" Akko said.

"Who are you? Aren't all the witches supposed to be at the feast?" Akko gulped.

"I umm… I actually got banned from the feast." Akko admitted.

"Then why are you suspiciously roaming the halls, with bunny ears?"

"I can fix these, see! Metamorphie Faciesse!" A flash of green light, and now Andrew had donkey ears and a tail.

"They're not fixed. And what did you do to me?" He asked, feeling at the top of his head. "I feel like I should bring you to Diana."

"No don't! I was on my way to the north campus so that I could find the Fountain of Polaris! That way I can unlock my true potential and stop messing up all my spells...as you can see." Akko said quickly. An idea popped into her head.

"Come with me! I can fix both of us, I just need to go unlock my true potential just like Shiny Chariot did!" Akko said. She looked as if she were pleading. Andrew considered for a moment.

"I guess it can't be any worse than a boring tour of the school…" He said, relenting.

"Yay let's go!" Akko said.

"I didn't catch your name. I am Andrew Hanbridge," Andrew said.

"My name is Atsuko Kagari, but you can just call me Akko." Akko explained, setting off without another word.

It wasn't too long before Andrew and Akko got to the north campus. There was a big door on it that was closed tight. Andrew went up to the sign.

"Off limits. All students are forbidden from entering…" Andrew read. Just as he finished, Andrew heard a yell as Akko ran as fast as she could and threw her weight against the old wooden door. It shattered as it opened.

"Got it!" Akko said . Andrew just looked at her and shook his head.

"Guess you just like to go for the direct approach…"

The North campus was completely empty of anything interesting. Just a whole bunch of large stone pillars with marble floors and worn down architecture.

"It has to be around here somewhere…" Akko said.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Andrew asked.

"It's called the Fountain of Polaris. It only appears to those with true magical potential." Akko said.

"And you're sure you have magical potential? Based on your spectacle earlier I'm not convinced." Andrew said. Akko turned to him, anger in her eyes.

"I know I have potential! It's my dream to be just like Shiny Chariot!" Akko said before turning around to search for the entrance to the fountain, clutching the Shiny Rod tightly. Soon, she came around a corner and was met with another large wooden door. Andrew walked up to the sign on the door to read it.

"Beware! This door holds back the ancient beast of the north campus-" Andrew was cut off by another yell from Akko as she threw her weight into the door, shattering it. Except this time, there wasn't an empty room behind the door, but instead, a massive white polar bear. It had a gold star on its side. It let out a guttural roar.

"Run." Andrew said, turning and making a break for it, Akko following close behind.

Diana, who had lost Andrew at some point, heard a distant roar echoing from the north campus.

 _This can't be good_ She thought, running in the direction of the north campus.

Ursula heard a roar that was all too familiar echo throughout the dining hall. She knew what and where that roar came from. As quietly as possible, Ursula made her way out of the hall as the headmistress told the hall to remain calm and that the roar was likely just a wild animal.

Akko and Andrew were running as fast as they could through the north campus, but the massive polar bear was gaining on them.

"Maybe you should have thought your actions through first!" Andrew yelled as they ran.

"Maybe, but I tend to have a problem with that!" Akko responded.

"Obviously!" Andrew yelled back. The two turned a corner and were met with a staircase broken in the middle. It was a risky jump, but it was their only option. The massive bear turned around the corner, slowing so that it wouldn't run into the wall.

"We need to make the jump! It wouldn't follow us!" Akko said. Andrew looked at her incredulously.

"That is way too far! We'd never make it!" Andrew said.

"It's our only option!" Akko said. She broke into a sprint, and reluctantly, Andrew did the same. At the very tip before the break, both Akko and Andrew jumped for the other side. It wasn't high enough. Akko reached the peak of her jump and started to fall back to the ground, and she wasn't going to make it.

Suddenly, a ribbon of light dashed under Akko and Andrew, and a gush of wind _carried_ them the rest of the way across the gap. The ribbon of light formed into the shape of once they were safely across the gap. The massive polar bear skidded to a stop as it reached the gap. It seemed to consider it for a moment before turning around, presumably to find another way around. Akko looked to Syl.

"Thank you." She said. Syl just smiled.

"Yeah no kidding! We barely made it!" Andrew said. He obviously just thought Akko had been talking to herself, "This whole ordeal better have been worth it.

"It will!" Akko said. Her and Andrew made their way up the marble staircase, and at the top the view levelled out to a plateau. At the end of the plateau, a arch of vines glowed gold. It revealed marble steps that went up, with a shrine at the end.

"That's it!" Akko said, recognizing the look from the illustration on her chariot card.

"The fountain?" Andrew started, "I didn't actually believe it would show up…"  
"I told you!" Akko said, running towards the archway. She ran up the staircase. At the end, a shrine stood. Flowing from the top was crystalline blue water. Akko pulled out the Shiny Rod, and Syl floated next to her.

"Fountain of Polaris! Unlock my hidden potential as a witch!" Akko commanded. Nothing happened. Andrew was slowly approaching from behind her .

"Come on!" Akko urged. She sank to her knees.

"Fountain please! I need this! So that I can stop being such a stinkin bad witch! So that I can fulfill my dream of becoming like Chariot!" Akko pleaded. Nothing happened. By now, Andrew had caught up. Akko sighed.

"Looks like I failed. Again." Akko said, defeated.

"Akko…" Syl said, worried that Akko would sink back into one of her depressive stretches.

"Akko, look." Andrew said. Akko looked up. Blue globes had come out of the fountain. Each of them had a image in them. Akko watched as a young Chariot walked up to the fountain, just as Akko had, and was denied. She walked away.

Then, Akko watched as different images flashed before her. Many images of Chariot failing, just as Akko had, at many different types of magic. Then she saw how Chariot had studied, and worked hard so she could become better. Hours spent falling asleep after studying. Then finally Akko saw Chariot coming to the fountain later. She had worked hard to become better, and the fountain recognized that, granting her the power of the seven stars. Everything went white, and Akko was standing on the grassy plateau once more.

"The Fountain of Polaris grants the power of the seven stars to a witch of great potential," Akko heard a voice said behind her. Akko turned to see Ursula.

"To any witch who isn't quite ready, the fountain disappears. It appears you weren't quite ready, but I think you knew that already." Ursula said. Akko looked down.

"I just wanted to unlock my potential as a witch so I can be like Chariot…" Akko said.

"Akko, do you remember what I told you?" Ursula said, "You don't get the things you dream of, you get the things you work for."

"I'm sorry…" AKko said, tears brimming at her eyes. Ursula stepped up to Akko.

"It's alright. For now how about we go back to my room?" Ursula said. Akko suddenly pulled Ursula into a hug.

"That would be great." Akko replied.

"Could you umm...fix this?" Andrew motioned to his donkey ears. Before Ursula could move, there was some talking and with a poof of smoke, both Akko's bunny ears and Andrew's donkey ears disappeared. Everyone turned to see Diana with her wand out.

"I see you've met Akko." Diana said bluntly.

"Yes. She is quite a...personality." Andrew said. Everyone laughed a little.

"I would have to agree. I don't think the school would be the same without her." Diana admitted.

"That is the nicest thing she's ever said to me! I guess this is a step in the right direction!" Akko said.

"It wasn't exactly a compliment, just an observation." Diana replied.

"Shall we go back?" Ursula asked everyone. With a collective nod, they four set off back to the school.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! I have a Chariot backstory and Chariot/Akko interaction on the board for next chapter, but soon after that, we will FINALLY get to the second word. Also, there will be some character development on Diana and Akko's friendship soon, as I want to get to some Dianakko as soon as possible without rushing it. Stay tuned!_


	8. Chapter 8: Shiny

**Shiny**

 _Hey everyone! I have Chariot chapter here. Make sure to keep the reviews rollin in! Thanks and enjoy!_

Ursula sat in her room, illusion spell inactive, Syl floating off to the side.

 _Wait, If she isn't Ursula then is she just Chariot? This multiple personality thing is confusing me._ Syl thought. She thought about asking, but then decided not to, as she thought she would just get more confused.

"Syl, It's been a while…" Chariot said. Syl let out a nervous giggle

"Yeah I suppose it looks that way. You're all grown up now!" Syl said, "But I don't really remember anything between now and then."

"It has been a few years hasn't it…" Chariot let out a little laugh, "Ironically, I don't remember much either." Syl eyed her, confused.

"What do you mean?" Syl asked.

"After our bond broke, I fell into disarray. It was like I was disconnected from my body. I could barely comprehend what was going on around me. All I remember semi-vividly is getting taken here by...someone. They gave me to the school who locked me up in this very room for years." Chariot said, gazing off into open air.

"They fed me and cared for me while I was here, making sure I could recover. Hoping I could recover." She continued.

"Recovered from what?" Syl asked.

"Woodward called it a 'Soul Wound'. When the bond broke, something happened to me. It was like a part of what made me _me_ disappeared. I don't remember hardly anything from over those 8 years. What I was told is that all I would do is sit and stare blankly off into space, or I would cry for hours until I couldn't cry anymore at which point I just sat and stared again."

"Chariot…" Syl said.

"No Syl! Don't feel sorry for me. I'm the one that broke our bond, I'm the one that hurt you and made you a mindless spirit again. I'm the one who did that to myself." Chariot said. Syl just looked at her with a sorrowful look.

"Do you remember why you came to? How you broke out of your state?" Syl asked. Chariot slowly nodded.

"I started to get better eventually. Responding to simple yes or no questions. Actually walking around the room instead of sitting and crying all day. But it wasn't until the last visit that things got better."

"Last visit? Who's last visit?" Syl asked.

The answer was simple and short, but full of malice.

"Croix."

* * *

Croix stood on her magical hoverboard as she travelled through the leyline. It had been eight years since she dropped Chariot off at Luna Nova. In that time, she had done extensive research on integrating technology with magic, as well as some minor soul searching.

In her time away, she had determined that she still hated Chariot and everything she stood for. The only reason that Croix had helped her all those years ago is that it was the only humane thing to do. In addition, if anyone knew about the incident with the moon, like the common people who had seen Chariot's show on that day, then there would have been massive problems for the magical community in general.

So far, Croix hadn't heard anything about Chariot in that time, and she didn't care to either. She had moved on to her own ideals and work, that would hopefully allow her to accomplish what Chariot had failed to do.

Croix was visiting Luna Nova because she believed that working there could be imperative to her work, as the school had access to resources that Croix could never get ahold of on her own.

As the leyline vanished from sight and replaced with the green hills of the edge of Luna Nova's campus. Croix made her way towards the headmistress's office.

Croix confidently strolled through the hallway, noticing the confused looks she got from young witches as she passed. She made her way past the old classrooms and through the dimly lit hallways, then up the seemingly endless sets of stairs that led to the main office. She finally made it and opened the door.

"Ah there you are Miss Meridies. Just on time." Headmistress Holbrooke said from behind her desk, "You requested this meeting?" Inside the room, in addition to the headmistress, was Professor Finnelan.

"Yes. It is a matter of importance to me. I would like to request a job." Croix said.

"You mean to teach here? You must certainly be working on some magical innovation! Why would you want to work here?" The headmistress asked.

"I believe that Luna Nova would have access to some resources that may be imperative to my research. I would like to ask if I could work here in return to access to those resources." Croix said. The headmistress seemed to consider for a moment.

"I don't even know what resources we could provide to you, but i'm sure we could help out somehow. Hmm…"

"What class would you even teach? We have all of the basic magical subjects covered. The astronomy teacher is retiring next year, but if I remember correctly, astronomy was the one class you did not fare well in." Finnelan interjected.

"Actually, I would like to teach a new class. It would be called 'Magitronics'. That's the working name for it at least. The concept is the merging of technology and magic." Croix explained. Finnelan visibly cringed.

"That is untraditional! Technology has always been banned at the school!" Finnelan argued.

"Even if it lets you use magic without the power of a sorcerer's stone?" Finnelan stared at Croix in disbelief, "It is a work in progress, but I believe that I can get it to work soon." Croix said.

The Headmistress finally spoke up, "We are a bit low on funding right now, and it sounds like this 'Magitronics' is still a work in progress. How about I make a deal with you, Miss Meridies."

"I'm listening."

"Come back in a year or two, once you've perfected this 'Magitronics', and we will give you a job then." The headmistress suggested.

It wasn't ideal, as she would have liked to get to work on her new project as soon as possible, but it was better than nothing. Finally, Croix nodded.

"That sounds like a deal to me. Thank you Headmistress." Croix said, turning to leave.

"One more thing, Croix." The headmistress stopped her, using her first name. Croix turned back to look.

"Chariot has gotten...better. Slightly. I think it would be good if you visited her." She said. Croix went stiff.

"I think-" Croix started.

"You should go see her." The headmistress said, cutting her off. This time it was more a command than a request, "Her room is directly above us."

"Of course." Croix relented. She left through the door and made her way up the staircase. She did not want to have to see Chariot again. She made it to the top of the staircase, and turned towards the door. Steeling herself, she knocked on the door.

There was no answer. _Guess I shouldn't be that surprised_ She thought to herself before easing the door open.

Inside the room, Chariot sat on the bed up against the wall, staring off across the room. She wore a blue and white striped gown that barely went to her midtheigh. Her hair had grown out over the years, but it was unkempt and messy. She didn't even seem to notice Croix come in.

Looking around the room, Croix noticed a few things that you shouldn't see in a normal bedroom. There was a thick layer of dust on most objects, as if they hadn't been touched for years. There was no messiness, not because someone had cleaned, but because nothing had been moved in the first place. Within the room, the decoration was non-existent, with only a small dresser with a few object on top of it and a desk with a chair.

Strangely, Croix felt a surge of emotions well up inside of her. She felt pity for Chariot, being stuck in this state. She also felt a slight amount of sadness for her ex-friend. But most of all, she felt disappointment. Disappointment that Chariot wasn't even strong enough to push through this after _eight goddamn years_.

 _How is this any better than when I left her here_ Croix asked herself. She looked around the room a little bit better, walking over to the dresser. Inside the drawers were a few nightgowns identical to the one Chariot wore right now.

 _She doesn't need any other clothes, as she probably doesn't leave this room._

On top of the dresser, there were three items. A wand, a pair of glasses, and a picture frame. Croix noticed them as the items that were sitting on Chariot's table in her dressing room. Someone must have gone back for wand had a layer of dust on it, and it looked like it hadn't been used. The pair of glasses were in a similar condition.

The picture frame held a photo of Chariot and Croix as children, when they were still attending Luna Nova. There was something off about it though. It wasn't covered in dust like the other two. Like it had been handled recently. Croix picked up the picture frame, walking over to where Chariot was sitting.

Croix grabbed one of Chariot's hands, forcing the picture into her hand. Surprisingly, Chariot took it, her glazed over eyes averting to what was in her hand. Croix just looked on as Chariot stared at the photo for a moment. One moment turned into two moments. Then a few minutes. Eventually, Croix noticed something.

A single tear running down her cheek.

Croix staggered back in surprise. Chariot scooted down on her bed until she was near to the bedpost. She leaned over the edge and placed the photo frame back on the dresser, exactly where it had been, before returning to staring off into the distance.

Croix stood in silence, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

 _Of all the things to do in the room, of all the things that cause a reaction, it's a photo of us as kids. Why?_ Croix thought. _Why do I even care? I've moved on. I don't care If Chariot gets better or not_ Croix turned to leave. She had her hand on the handle when she stopped herself.

 _I can't do it. God I can't do it!_ Croix said to herself. _I can try to hate her as much as I want, but in the end, I just can't do it._ Croix turned back to where Chariot sat. An emotion started to surface. Sadness.

As much as Croix had tried over the last few years to move on from all things to do with Chariot, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was still angry at Chariots failure with the Claiomh Solais, and the fact that it didn't choose Croix herself. She could be as mad at her as she wanted, but she couldn't sit here and not try to help Chariot. No decent human being could.

Croix sat on the bed next to Chariot. She grabbed Chariot's face in her hands and turned her so she was looking Croix directly in the eyes.

"Chariot. I know you're in there." She started. Chariot just stared back with the same blank expression.

"I know you're in there somewhere. Under all this, the real Chariot is there. You're strong. I know you are. Just push!" Croix said. She felt herself start to tear up slightly. She fought back the emotions, suppressing them.

"Chariot. This isn't you. You didn't just give up when things got hard. You persevered. You kept going, because that's who you are! Whatever this 'Soul Wound' thing is, you can't let it stop you." Croix said. She had hoped that by talking to Chariot, something would happen. That she would garner some type of reaction. Nothing happened.

The emotions started to fade, and Croix began to return to her normal, analytical state. Then something clicked inside her head as she watched Chariot return to her curled up position, staring off at the wall. Croix shook her head, disappointed once again.

 _Shouldn't have let those dumb emotions best me. I knew nothing was going to happen anyways. At least I cans say I tried_ Croix thought to herself, walking towards the door.

"Guess you are just as much of a disappointment as I thought. You can't even get through this." Croix muttered, shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Chariot's muddled mind with a memory of less than a few moments numbly took in what Croix was saying to her. Then it was gone again, like it had never been there in the first place. Croix turned to leave. Something In Chariot's mind clicked. Like a fog had been lifted from over her mind. The first thing she heard after coming to was Croix's voice.

"Guess you are just as much of a disappointment as I thought. You can't even get through this." Croix said, then slammed the door.

 _She still hates me...But why? Why did she ever hate me in the first place? I never asked for the Shiny-_ She cut off as she remembered what had happened with the Shiny Rod and Syl. The last thing she remembered was curling up and crying in her dressing room. Where was she now?

Chariot looked around the room, thoughts of Croix shoved aside for the time being. For some reason, she was in a room with a large window on the roof. Chariot tried to stand up, but as soon as she got her feet under her, her legs collapsed under her, as if she hadn't used them in a very long time.

Carefully, Chariot stood up again, leaning on the dresser for support. As she made her way slowly to the door, she noticed that her hair wend down past her shoulders, even a foot past them.

 _What is going on here?_ Chariot thought to herself. She opened the heavy wood door slowly, being careful as to not fall. She went down the stairs, until she heard a conversation in a door to her right. She rapped on the door, and heard a voice.

"Come in!"

 _Is that Headmistress Holbrooke? Am I at Luna Nova?_

Chariot opened the door slowly, leaning on the doorframe. There was a gasp from both the headmistress and Professor Finnelan, who was also in the room.

"What is going on?" Chariot asked.

* * *

"The two then proceeded to explain the whole situation. They decided I could secretly live in the upstairs room until the end of the semester, when I would take over being the Astronomy teacher under an alias." Chariot explained to Syl.

"What about Croix?" Syl asked.

"They said that she had stormed off just a few moments prior with matters to attend to. She has her own agenda, and I don't like it. Whatever it is, based off of the way she acted the few weeks before our bond broke, It's something to do with the Grand Triskelion. And also, She has it out for me." Chariot asked. Suddenly, her expression went dark as a thought came to mind.

"Syl, tell me." Her voice was barely a whisper, "Did I affect Akko with the Dream Fuel Spirit?"

There was only silence from Syl.

"So I did then. That's why she can't fly or do magic as well as everyone else." Chariot said, sadness evident in her tone.

"It's not your fault. Croix-" Syl started.

"Croix may hate me and she may be the reason I used the Fuel Spirit in the first place, but I was still the one that did it. I took Akko's dream from her."

"Chariot…" Syl said.

"Akko is my responsibility now. No matter what, I am going to help her become a great witch. And that's going to start with helping her find the words." Chariot stood up.

"Thank you for listening, Syl." Chariot said.

"Of course, Chariot. I do have one question." Syl said. Chariot looked at Syl, indicating that she was listening.

"Are you going to tell Akko?" Chariot stopped for a moment.

"Eventually. Probably soon." Came Chariot's simple answer, "Anyways, Akko is probably wondering where you are. I need to get some sleep anyways." With that, Syl flew off and Chariot made her way to her bed, but she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. She had too much on her mind.

* * *

 _My thoughts were a bit skewed at the end, but I think I got across all the ideas I wanted. There is still tension between Croix and Chariot, but Croix isn't TOTALLY coldhearted. Finally, I have gotten the worldbuilding I want so far out of the way, it's time to get to the words. Next chapter :]_

 _Also, some slightly less serious chapters come up, but still very important. I am going to do some things with special magic Akko can do because of her bond with Syl and stuff, and It'll be great!_

 _Anyways, remember to follow if you haven't, and LEAVE ME REVIEWS! I love reading feedback!_


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